m 


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ii! 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

No.  Case^-^yi^ -...-.    ^- ---■_, 

No,  Shelf, __^^  ,    ^ 
No.  Book,  r"""""":^^:. 


1^ 


he  John   M.  Krebss  IJonation. 


■-■■      ;..ii        .jfci 


sec 


SERMONS 


P^zU^  /«^t.M.^^%  t^ 


t-^l,^ 


SERMONS, 


BY    THE    LATE 


REV.   WILLIAM   NEVINS,   D.  D 


NEW- YORK : 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  S.  TAYLOR, 

THEOLOGICAL  AND  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  BOOKSELLER, 

BRICK    CHURCH    CHAPEL, 

OPPOSITE    CITY   HALL. 

1837. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-seven,  by  Rufus  L.  Nevins,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New- York. 


W.    S.    DORR,    PRINTER, 
123  Fiillon  Street. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  following  discourses  were  not  prepared  by 
their  author  for  the  press.  They  are  given  to  the 
reader  precisely  in  tlie  form  in  which  they  were 
found  among  Dr.  Nevins'  papers,  with  only  such 
corrections  or  alterations  as  were  required  in  print- 
ing. May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  bless  this 
volume  to  thousands  of  souls,  and  to  His  name  shall 
be  the  praise. 


•Ik  «!»*««,, 


^^^OLO  c- 1  n  ■/■■  T 


SERMON   I. 
Without  God  in  the  world,  Ephesians  ii.  12,      -     -       1 


PAOK. 


SERMON   II. 
God  is  love,  1  John  iv.  8,     -------     -       28 

SERMON  III. 

He  delighteth  in  mercy,  Micah  vii.  18,     -     -     -     -       44 

SERMON   IV. 
Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee  that  pardoneth  iniquity? 

Micali  \ii.  18,     --- 50 

SERMON   V. 

Behold,  therefore,  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God, 

Romans  xi.  22, -     -       70 

SERMON   VI. 

Oh,  how  great  is  thy  goodness,  which  thou  hast 
laid  up  for  them  that  fear  thee  ;  which  thou  hast 
wrought  for  them  that  truet  in  thee  before  the  sons 
of  men,  Psahns  xxxi.  19, 86 

SERMON  VII. 
Bless  the  Lord,  oh !  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his 

benefits.  Psalms  ciii.  2, ^7 

1* 


VI  CONTENTS. 

SERMON    VIII. 

PAGH. 

Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway  ;  and  again,  I  say,  re- 
pice,  Phillippians  iv.  4,    Ill 

SERMON  IX. 
We  ought  to  obey  God,  Acts  v.  29, 124 

SERMON  X. 

Against  thee,  thee  only,  hare  I  sinned,  Psalmsli.  4,     138 

SERMON  XI. 

For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to  salvation 
not  to  be  repented  of ;  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world 
worketh  death,  2  Corinthians  vii,  10,  -     -     -     -     150 

SERMON   XII. 

For  all  this  they  sinned  still,  Psalms  Ixxviii.  32,    -     163 

SERMON  XIII. 
My  son,  give  me  thy  heart,  Proverbs  xxiii.  26,       -     176 

SERMON  XIV. 

For  their  rock  is  not  as  our  rock,  even  our  enemies 

themselves  being  judges,  Deuteronomy  xxxii.  31,      192 

SERMON  XV. 
What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee  1  Micali,  vi.  8,       204 

SERMON   XVI. 

Oh!  *  *  *  *  how  often  would  l  *  *  *  *  and  ye  would 
not,  XwA^  xiii.  34, 218 

SERMON  XVII. 

What  wilt  thou  say  wlien  he  shall  punish  thee  ? 
/tTcw^m/i  xiii.  21, 230 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

SERMON  XVIII. 

PAGE. 

Out  of  thy  own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee,  Luke  x'lx.  22,     242 

SERMON  XIX. 

And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord, 
choose  you  this  day  whom  you  will  serve, 
Joshua  xxiv.  15,  also  1  Kings  xviii.  21,  and 
iii.  15, 257 

SERMON  XX. 

Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap, 

Galatians  vi,  7,       -- 273 

SERMON  XXI. 

How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  honor  one  of 
another,  and  seek  not  the  honor  that  cometh  from 
God  only,  John  v.  44,       .---,.---     285 

SERMON   XXII. 

Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  Luke  xiii.  24,  -     298 

SERMON   XXIII. 

Old  things  are  passed  away  ;  behold  all  things  are 

become  new,  2  Corinthians  v.  17,       -     -     -     -     317 

SERMON   XXIV. 

Ye    did  run  well  ;   who  did  hinder    you,   that  ye 

should  not  obey  the  truth?    Galatians  v.  7,     -     -     330 

SERMON    XXV. 
But  grow  in  grace,  2  Peter  iii.  18,      -     .     i     -     -     343 

SERMON  XXVI. 

Wherefore    hast    thou    made    all    men    in    vain? 

Psalms  Ixxxix.  47, 358 


via  CONTENTS. 

SERMO^'    XXVII. 

PAGE. 

So  teach  us  to  number  our  days  that  we  may  apply 

our  hearts  unto  wisdom,  P^-a/m.?  xc.  12,  -      -     -     369 

SERMON  XXVIII. 
The  sting  of  death  is  sin,  1  Corinthians  xv.  56,      -     387 

SERMON   XXIX. 
That  he  might  go  to  his  own  place.  Acts  i.  25,       -     398 

SERMON  XXX. 

Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved, 
what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy 
conversation  and  godliness,  2  Peter  iii.  11,    -     -     413 


Without  God  in  the  world. — Ephesians  ii.  13. 


I  AM  going  now  to  attempt  the  demonstration  of 
something  which  I  most  sincerely  wish  were  not 
demonstrable  ;  and  I  ask  your  close  and  considerate 
attention  to  what  I  am  about  to  advance  if  for  no 
other  reason,  yet  that  you  may  sit  as  judges  and 
critics  upon  it,  (I  mean  the  matter,)  sifting  every 
argument  and  scrutinizing  every  illustration,  that, 
if  possible,  you  may  disprove  my  assertions,  and 
clear  your  race  and  yourselves  from  that  heavy  ac- 
cusation which  I  bring  against  them  and  against 
you. 

My  object  will.be  to  show  that  what  the  Ephesians 
are  declared  to  have  been  in  their  natural  state,  the 
great  majority  of  the  human  family,  and  I  fear  that 
I  must  add,  many  of  you  are  now — without  God,  or, 
to  render  the  original  still  more  literally,  atheists  in 
the  world.  It  is  not  speculative  atheism  that  I  lay 
to  your  charge ;  1  am  far  from  asserting  or  suppo- 
sing, that  you  are  intellectually  without  God.  No, 
you  believe  that  there  is  a  God ;  you  have  risen  by 
a  short  and  easy  ascent  through  nature  to  nature's 
great  intelligent  author  ;  and  sometimes,  when  con- 
science is  under  special  excitement,  you  feel  that 
2 


14 

there  is  a  God,  and  you  are  shocked  at  the  denial  of 
the  doctrine.  But  of  practical  atheism,  of  being  vir- 
tually without  God,  I  must  and  do  accuse  mankind 
and  some  of  you ;  and  what  if  I  say  that  I  think 
the  charge  of  practical  atheism  no  lighter  than  that 
of  speculative  atheism ;  on  some  accounts  the  former 
appears  to  me  a  more  weighty  accusation.  If  I  were 
arraigned  at  the  bar  of  God,  1  think  that  I  had  rather 
stand  indicted  for  having  disowned  my  Maker's  ex- 
istence, than  to  be  put  on  trial  for  having  disregard- 
ed his  acknowledged  existence.  There  is  more  of 
mental  infatuation  often  in  the  first.  The  last  is  a 
case  of  moral  and  more  culpable  infatuation.  Judge 
ye  between  the  subject  that  denies  the  existence  of 
his  sovereign,  and  the  subject  who,  owning  his  exis- 
tence and  his  authority,  lives  and  acts  in  utter  disre- 
gard of  both.  Which  is  the  more  guilty  ?  Decide 
ye  between  the  child  that  stoutly  denies  all  filial  ob- 
ligation, and  the  child  that  confessing  it  cherishes 
no  filial  feelings  towards  the  father  and  renders  none 
of  the  obedience  or  gratitude  which  is  due  from  a 
son  or  daughter — which  is  deeper  in  sin  ?  Oh,  it  is 
dreadful  in  face  of  the  united  declarations  of  heaven 
and  earth  that  there  is  a  God,  and  in  contradiction 
of  conscience  afiirming  the  same,  to  say  that  there  is 
none.  But  whether  is  it  not  as  dreadful,  I  have  it 
on  my  tongue  to  say  more  dreadful,  a  thing  to  assent 
to  the  testimony  from  without  us  and  from  within 
us  that  there  is  a  God,  and  then  to  forget  him  and 
disreofard  him  ?  In  the  one  case  God  is  disowned  in 
word,  in  the  other  in  works.  Is  consistency  a  vir- 
tue ?     The  speculative  atheist  has  it.      But,  alas ! 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  15 

the  practical  atheist  to  all  his  other  crimes  adds  the 
most  aAvful  inconsistency.  But  it  is  high  time  to 
adduce  the  proof  of  that  on  which  I  am  expatiating. 
By  practical  atheism  I  mean  the  believing  that  there 
is  a  God,  and  yet  thinking  and  feeling  and  acting 
just  as  if  there  were  none.  The  propriety  of  this,  I 
suppose,  no  one  will  defend,  since,  if  I  mistake  not, 
the  very  statement  of  it  is  revolting  even  to  the  be- 
ings who  are  guilty  of  it.  Who  will  say  that  a  bare 
faith  in  his  existence  is  the  only  duty  that  we  owe 
God,  and  for  which  he  holds  ns  responsible.  If  such 
a  being  exists  and  he  is  our  creator,  and  our  pre- 
server, to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  all  that  we  are 
and  have  and  hope  for,  infidelity  herself  must  ac- 
knowledge, yea  she  has  acknowledged,  that  he  ought 
to  be  remembered  and  worshipped  by  prayer  and 
praise  and  confidence  and  obedience,  and  that  he  is 
entitled  to  the  supreme  and  undissembled  homage  of 
the  heart  and  the  mind.  Few  men  have  ever  dared 
to  stand  forth  the  advocates  and  abettors  of  practi- 
cal ungodliness,  and  I  am  sure  that  none  of  you  will. 
There  is  not  one  of  you,  I  am  confident,  but  will 
admit  all  that  I  have  assumed.  I  proceed,  therefore, 
to  submit  my  proofs— and, 

1,  I  adduce  forgetfulness  of  God  as  a  proof ,  or 
rather  as  one  for^in  of  practical  atheism.  Sinners 
chargeable  with  this  crime  did  formerly  exist.  Da- 
vid expostulates  with  such  "now  consider  this  ye 
that  forget  God ;"  and  he  mentions  it  as  one  charac- 
teristic of  the  wicked,  that  God  is  not  ^^^  all  his 
thoughts  :  and  what  stronger  evidence  of  the  offen- 
siveness  of  this  sin  could  we  have,  than  his  inspired 


16 


declaration,  '•  the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell, 
and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God  V  Would  to 
heaven  the  same  sin  were  not  extensively  prevalent 
now.  This  is  a  subject  on  which,  as  I  have  not  ac- 
cess to  your  minds,  I  must  appeal  to  your  conscien- 
ces. What  report  bears  that  faithful  witness  within 
you  !■  Does  it  not  testify,  in  many  of  you,  that  you 
forget  God  ?  Are  there  not  some  here  in  all  whose 
thoughts  God  is  not  ?  who  wake  in  the  morning 
without  thinking  of  him  who  has  preserved  them 
through  the  darkness  and  dangers  of  the  night,  and 
go  through  the  business  of  the  day  and  the  recrea- 
tions of  the  evening,  and  sink  to  sleep  again  without 
once  calmly  and  considerately  reflecting  on  him  in 
whose  hand  their  breath  is,  and  whose  are  all  their 
ways,  and  who  from  day  to  day  and  from  year  to 
year,  unless  the  unpleasant  idea  of  God  be  forced 
upon  their  attention  by  some  serious  mention  of  his 
name,  or  by  some  striking  act  of  his  providence,  live 
in  utter  unmindfulness  of  him  who  is  ever  mindful 
of  them ;  and  when  occasionally  they  are  obliged  to 
think  of  him,  think  of  him  as  simply  existing,  and 
without  any  of  that  emotion  which  the  dependent 
creature  ought  to  feel,  when  he  contemplates  the 
being  from  whom  he  was  derived,  and  by  whom  he 
is  supported  ?  Ah  !  I  know  how  it  is  with  you,  for 
there  is  in  every  natural  heart  the  same  dreadful 
propensity  to  exclude  God  from  its  thoughts,  and  I 
remember  well  and  I  trust  with  some  sorrow,  how 
once  it  was  with  me,  (and  on  such  a  subject  as  this 
may  I  not  be  permitted  to  make  use  of  my  own  ex- 
perience  ?)  when,  though  I  believed  in  the  divine  ex- 


17 

istence  and  could  demonstrate  it,  I  knew  not  God, 


nor  loved  him,  nor  retained  him  in  any  of  my  thoughts, 
and  the  language  of  all  my  life  was,  "  depart  from 
me,  for  I  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways  ;  what 
is  the  Almighty  that  I  should  serve  him ;"  "  and  what 
profit  should  I  have,  if  I  pray  unto  him ;"  if  thy  heart 
could  speak,  oh  wicked  man,  and  thy  actions  had  a 
tongue,  would  not  this  be  their  language  to  God? 
But  what  if  you  should  stand  acquitted  by  conscience 
of  the  charge  of  absolutely  forgetting  God,  it  does 
not  clear  you  of  the  general  accusation  of  being  with- 
out God  in  the  world.  It  does  but  set  aside  one 
count,  or  rather  one  specification,  in  the  indictment 
against  you.  If  you  think  of  God,  how  do  you  think 
of  him  ?  It  may  be  you  have  had  thoughts  of  him, 
as  unjust  in  his  requirements,  or  unkind  in  his  deal- 
ings ;  your  thoughts  murmur  against  him  ;  or  you 
think  of  him,  as  the  slave  does  of  his  oppressive 
master,  with  servile  dread.  Perhaps  it  is  not  the 
true  God  that  you  think  of,  but  some  deification  of 
your  own  fancy,  a  combination  of  imaginary  attri- 
butes, which  has  no  real  existence,  and  this,  perad- 
venture,  is  the  being  that  you  sometimes  meditate 
upon  with  sentiments  of  veneration  and  gratitude, 
which  you  mistake  for  the  emotions  of  true  piety. 
When  you  contemplate  the  divine  character,  as  he 
has  revealed  himself,  is  it  with  deep  feeling?  do 
the  affections  of  the  heart  go  forth  towards  him 
with  the  thoughts  of  the  mind  ?  do  you  think  of  God 
as  an  affectionate  child  does  of  a  fond  father  ?  how 
many  and  frequent  are  your  thoughts  of  him,  and  do 
you  love  to  think  of  him  7  These  are  questions  that 
2* 


18 


must  be  canvassed  and  appropriately  answered  be- 
fore it  can  be  proved  that  you  are  not  without  God 
in  the  world.    I  mention, 

2.  As  an  evidence  of  practical  atheism,  a  neglect 
to  worship  him  and  to  maintain  friendly  and  filial 
intercourse  with  him.  How  many  there  are,  (the 
very  individuals,  it  does  not  belong  to  me  to  designate, 
but  God  knows  them,  and  conscience  points  them 
out,)  who  oifer  no  adoration  to  the  God  they  acknow- 
ledge, who  allot  no  portion  of  each  successive  day, 
that  he  metes  out  to  them,  to  the  sacred  employment 
of  thinking  of  him,  reading  of  him,  praising  him,  and 
praying  to  him,  who  never  enter  the  closet  to  com- 
mune with  him  who  seeth  in  secret  and  maintain 
no  sort  of  communication  and  intercourse  with  him. 
Is  not  this  to  be  without  God  in  the  world  ?  Is  this 
the  manner  of  one  friend  with  another  ?  Is  this  the 
way  of  the  child  to  his  father  7  What  Avould  you 
think  of  a  son  or  a  daughter  that  should  treat  you 
so  7  Does  this  look  like  spending  an  eternity  in  the 
delightful  intercourse  and  worship  of  God  ?  Is  this 
making  preparation  for  heaven  ?  Yet  many  who 
answer  to  this  description  are  confidently  expecting 
to  go  to  heaven  ;  without  another  heart  they  cannot 
go  thither,  and  if  they  knew  what  heaven  is,  they 
would  not  go  there. 

Shall  we  enter  the  family  now  to  see  what  acknow- 
ledgment of  God  there  is  there.  Here  is  the  hearth, 
and  the  table,  and  the  bed  ;  but  where  is  the  altar  and 
the  oflfering  unto  God  ?  Alas,  they  are  no  where 
to  be  found.  There  is  not  even  a  brief  pause  before 
the  repast  as  for  the  expression  of  gratitude,  and  the 


19 

invocation  of  blessing ;  and  there  is  not  a  word  heard 
or  an  action  seen,  from  which  you  could  infer  that 
the  existence  of  any  superior  being  is  recognized  in 
that  household.  All  is  as  if  they  were  self-created, 
self-supported,  and  self-protected.  Who  would  think 
them  dependent  beings  or  that  they  acknowledged 
that  fact  when  questioned  about  it  ?  You  would  say 
of  such  a  house — ''  Surely  they  are  atheists  that  live 
here."  But  no  ;  they  believe  there  is  a  God,  and  that 
he  spreads  their  table,  and  is  about  their  path  by  day 
and  their  bed  by  night,  but  they  are  living  without 
God  in  the  world. 

Let  us  go  to  the  sanctuary.  This,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, looks  like  worshipping  him,  to  be  here  in  his 
house,  on  his  day  and  among  his  people.  But  didst 
thou,  fellow  sinner,  as  thou  wast  approaching  this 
place,  reflect  on  the  awfulness  of  the  presence  into 
which  you  were  coming,  and  the  solemnity  of  the 
purpose  for  which  this  assembly  is  convened,  and 
were  you  so  taken  up  with  these  thoughts,  that  every 
thing  of  minor  importance  was  forgotten  by  you  ? 
Did  you  come  hither  to  worship  God  ?  Have  you  been 
worshipping  him  7  You  have  heard  them  sing  and 
me  pray,  but  has  heaven  received  from  you  to-day 
a  sacrifice  of  praise  and  prayer  ?  What,  if  with  appa- 
rent reverence,  you  have  engaged  in  these  external 
formalities  of  worship  ?  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they 
that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  What  is  the  thought  that  now  occupies  the 
largest  share  of  your  attention  ?  Is  it  that  at  this  pre- 
sent moment  the  piercing  eye  of  God  is  upon  the  se- 
crets of  your  soul  ?    And  are  you  hearkening  to  me 


20  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

with  the  simple  desire  that  your  heart  may  be  bene- 
fited by  what  the  Almighty  may  say  by  me  ?  Is  God 
in  your  thoughts  even  here  ?  I  know,  these  are  try- 
ing questions  to  all ;  some,  I  fear,  they  convict.  Oh 
could  your  hearts  be  laid  open  now,  and  your  mo- 
tives be  disclosed,  would  it  not  be  found  that  some 
have  come  hither  from  mere  habit,  others  for  exam- 
ple's sake,  and  still  others  to  while  away  an  idle  hour, 
one  to  gratify  a  vain  curiosity,  another  to  display 
himself,  and  some  stranger  perhaps  in  the  expecta- 
tation  of  being  entertained,  (for  those  of  you  that  know 
me,  know  full  well  that  I  have  done  entertaining  you, 
if  ever  I  did  it,)  and  many  more  are  here,  they 
scarcely  now  why  ;  and  were  the  thoughts  of  every 
heart  revealed,  would  not  the  subject  of  them  in  many 
cases  be  found  to  be  foreign  altogether  to  God  and 
the  things  of  God,  a  purely  secular  concern  ?  Say  ; 
let  conscience  speak,  didst  thou  come  here  to  wor- 
ship God  ?  What  didst  thou  come  to  God's  house, 
on  his  day,  with  his  worshippers,  but  to  worship 
him?  Do  jT-ou  honestly  think  you  have  ever  accept- 
ably worshipped  him  ?  and  hast  thou  not  then  lived 
hitherto  without  God  in  the  world  ? 

3.  I  state  as  another  evidence  of  practical  atheism, 
the  general  conduct  of  mankind  under  the  various 
dispensations  of  divine  providence.  The  believer 
in  revelation  knows,  and  he  who  admits  a  particular 
providence  (and,  by  the  way,  the  man  who  does  not 
believe  in  a  particular  providence,  does  not  really 
believe  in  any  providence  at  all,)  must  acknowledge 
that  it  is  the  Lord  that  killeth  and  maketh  alive,  that 
bringeth  down  to  the  grave  and  bringeth  up,  that 


21 

maketh  poor  and  maketh  rich,  that  bringeth  low 
and  Hfteth  up,  and  doth  all  things  according  to  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will.  Yet  when  among  your 
fellow  creatures,  how  little  do  you  see  that  looks  like 
a  practical  recognition  of  this  doctrine.  Does  not 
the  rich  man  say  in  his  heart,  ''  my  power  and  the 
might  of  my  hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth  T  Or, 
if  he  cannot  ascribe  it  altogether  to  his  own  industry 
and  prudence,  he  divides  the  credit  of  it  with  fortune, 
and  speaks  of  the  lucky  throw,  the  fortunate  specula- 
tion, or  the  prosperous  voyage,  to  the  success  of  which 
many  things  conspired,  but  he  whom  the  winds  and 
waves  obey  is  not  supposed  to  have  contributed  any- 
thing. I  wonder,  if  among  you  merchants,  when  you 
hear  of  your  ships,  there  is  any  lifting  of  the  eye  or 
bending  of  the  knee  in  gratitude  to  God.  You  are  glad, 
and  you  may,  perhaps,  mistake  that  feeling  for  grati- 
tude. But  between  gladness  and  gratitude  there  is 
all  the  difference  that  there  is  between  atheism  and 
theism.  It  has  ever  been  the  fact  that  the  possession 
of  a  large  share  of  the  glory  or  wealth  of  this  world 
has  had  an  atheistical  tendency.  "  Who  is  the  Lord 
that  I  should  obey  him?"  said  Pharaoh  ;  and  Nebu- 
chadnezzar asks,  ''  is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that  I 
have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by  the 
might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honor  of  my  ma- 
jesty ?"  Aware  of  this  tendency  ;  Agar  prays,  "give 
me  not  riches,  lest  I  be  full  and  deny  thee,  and  say 
who  is  the  Lord  ?"  How  few  men  of  wealth  regard 
themselves  as  stewards  of  God.  Do  they  not  rather 
for  the  most  part  look  upon  what  they  possess  as  in 
the  most  unqualified  sense  of  the  expression  their 


22  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

own,  and  employ  it  as  if  they  were  not  beholden  for 
it  to  any  being  in  the  universe.  Yet  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  the  silver  is  mine  and  the  gold  is  mine.  But 
it  is  God  that  maketh  poor,  as  well  as  he  that  maketh 
rich,  and  hence,  every  discontent  and  repining  on  the 
part  of  the  poor  is  as  atheistical  as  pride  and  self  grat- 
ulation  in  the  rich.  Or,  if  these  dispositions  argue 
not  a  denial  of  God,  they  argue  what  is  still  more  an 
opposition  to  him. 

The  sovereignty  of  God  in  health  and  sickness, 
life  and  death,  is  also  very  extensively  disowned  in 
deed,  if  not  in  word.  The  Lord  killeth  and  maketh 
alive  ;  he  bringeth  men  to  the  grave,  and  bringeth 
up  again.  The  devout  Psalmist  enumerates  among 
the  benefits  of  God,  which  he  charges  his  soul  not 
to  forget,  that  he  healeth  all  our  diseases,  and  re- 
deemeth  our  life  from  destruction.  We  do  not  ob- 
ject to  your  ascribing  disease  and  death  to  natural 
causes,  and  your  employing  human  means  to  cure 
and  to  prevent ;  but  then  these  causes  and  these 
means  must  be  regarded  as  in  the  hand  and  under 
the  direction  of  the  Supreme  Efficient  of  every  thing, 
or  you  run  into  practical  atheism.  The  fault  is  not 
in  recognizing  physical  causes  ;  it  is  in  making  them 
independent  of  God.  There  is  no  objection  to 
speaking  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  a  kingdom  of 
means  ;  but  there  is  great  objection  to  your  ascribing 
the  sovereignty  to  the  means.  If  you  are  raised  up 
from  the  borders  of  the  grave,  you  may  be  as  grate- 
ful as  you  please  to  your  physician  and  3^our  nurse, 
if  you  will  be  still  more  grateful  to  God.  But  is  it 
not  a  fact,  that,  in  most  cases,  and  by  most  of  man" 


23 

kind,  God  is  forgotten,  and  the  preservation  of  life, 
and  the  recovery  of  health,  are  ascribed  altogether  to 
the  skillfulness  of  men  and  the  inherent  efficacy  of 
means  ;  and  God  is  not  glorified  as  he  in  whose 
hand  our  breath  is,  and  as  determining  the  bounds  of 
our  habitation  ?  Let  the  ordinary  language  of  the 
world  on  this  subject  bear  testimony,  for  there  is  no 
surer  way  of  coming  at  the  sentiments  of  men  than 
by  their  language  ;  how  very  rarely  is  a  thing  said 
to  be  provide?itial ;  it  is  fortunate  or  unfortunate  ; 
how  infrequently  you  hear  men  speaking  of  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  being  in  any  occurrence.  ''  It  so  hap- 
pened," is  their  way  of  speaking.  What  business  has 
such  a  word  as  chance  in  the  vocabulary  of  the 
creatures  of  that  God,  who  numbers  the  very 
hairs  of  our  head,  and  without  whom  the  most  in- 
significant bird  does  not  fall  to  the  ground.  Yet 
what  word  is  in  more  common  use,  and  that  not 
merely  from  necessity,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  but 
as  accurately  expressing  the  meaning  of  him  who 
employs  it  ?  When  one  of  you  is  surprisingly  saved 
from  some  imminent  danger,  how  is  it  spoken  of? 
Not  as  a  merciful  deliverance,  but  as  a  lucky  escape. 
We  hear  a  great  deal  said  of  what  Nature  has  done, 
and  can  do,  and  of  her  wisdom  and  power.  What 
mean  they  by  nature  ? — some  female  divinity  ?  If 
they  mean  God,  why  not  say  God  7  It  is  the  lan- 
guage of  atheism.  But  I  must  omit  these  details. 
I  mention, 

4.  As  another  proof  of  practical  atheism,  that  men 
are  in  the  habit  of  forming  their  plans  and  purposes, 
without  respect  to  their  dependence  on  God  for  the 


24 


accomplishment  of  them,  and  ivithont  consulting 
him.  They  resolve  with  themselves  where  they  will 
go,  what  they  will  do,  how  much  they  will  accomplish, 
just  as  if  they  had  life  in  themselves,  and  were  inde- 
pendent in  wisdom  and  power.  They  tell  us  what 
they  intend  to  do,  what  they  mean  to  be;  nor  do 
they  throw  in  any  such  parenthesis  as,  "  if  the  Lord 
will,"  or,  ^'  God  helping  me  ;"  nor  do  such  thoughts 
enter  into  their  minds.  Yet  we  are  commanded  to 
acknowledge  God  in  all  our  ways  ;  and  it  is  pro- 
mised that  he  will  direct  our  paths,  for  "  the  way  of 
man  is  not  in  himself;  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh 
to  direct  his  steps.'*  With  what  severity  and  solem- 
nity does  James  rebuke  this  infatuated  conduct: — 
"  Go  to  now,  ye  that  say,  to-day,  or  to-morrow,  we 
will  go  into  such  a  city,  and  continue  there  a  year, 
and  buy,  and  sell,  and  get  gain  ;  whereas  ye  know 
not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow,  for  what  is  your 
life  ;  for  that  ye  ought  to  say,  if  the  Lord  will, 
we  shall  live  and  do  this  or  that. 

5.  The  conduct  of  many,  in  seasons  of  affliction, 
evinces  that  they  are  without  God  in  the  world. 
Though  man  is  born  to  trouble,  as  the  sparks  fly 
upward,  yet  afliiction  cometh  not  forth  of  the  dust, 
neither  doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground.  The 
rod  of  afliiction  is  held  in  the  hand  of  God.  Never- 
theless, how  many  regard  it  not  as  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  neither  consider  in  it  the  operation  of  his 
hands,  and,  consequently,  make  no  inquiry  into  its 
meaning  and  object,  and  feel  no  anxiety  that  it  should 
answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  sent.  They  phi- 
losophically submit  to  it,  or  impiously  complain  of 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  25 

it,  or,  whatever  they  do,  they  overlook  its  meaning 
and  they  defeat  its  intent.  Oh  !  how  frequently  is 
this  painful  means  of  grace  entirely  ineffectual  ! 
Sinner,  how  much  thou  hast  suffered,  and  suffered 
from  thy  God,  too,  in  vain.  It  has  awakened  no 
serious  reflections  in  thy  mind  ;  it  has  drawn  thee 
no  nearer  to  thy  Maker.  Thou  lovest  life  as  well 
as  though  thou  hadst  never  tasted  its  bitterness,  and 
art  as  strongly  attached  to  the  world,  as  if  its  vanity 
had  never  been  made  to  pass  before  thee.  Thou 
liast  been  desolate  and  in  darkness  ;  and  thou  hast 
felt  the  insufficiency  of  human  consolation  and  inad- 
equacy of  earthly  resource,  but  it  has  not  put  thee 
upon  inquiring  after  God.  Thou  hast  not  said, 
"  where  is  God,  my  Maker,  who  giveth  songs  in  the 
night ;"  thou  hast  not  submissively  asked  him  what 
he  meant  in  troubling  you,  and  what  he  would  have 
you  to  do.  You  have  not  bemoaned  and  forsaken 
the  sins  for  which  you  might  have  presumed  he  was 
chastising  you  ;  you  have  not  kissed  the  rod  ;  you 
have  not  gone  to  him  to  heal  your  wound,  and  to 
bind  up  your  bleeding  heart ;  you  have  applied  to 
philosophy  to  stanch  it ;  you  have  waited  for  time  to 
cicatrize  it,  or  you  have  suffered  the  world  to  charm 
you  into  a  forgetfulness  of  your  sorrows  ;  and  some 
have  undertaken  to  drink  up  their  griefs  in  a  cup 
whose  dregs  are  death  and  hell.  Is  this  childlike  1 
Doth  not  a  suffering  son  or  daughter  fly  for  refuge 
and  relief  to  the  parent's  bosom  ?  And  God's  ample 
bosom  has  ever  been  open  to  you  ;  ah !  you  have 
been  living  without  God  in  the  world. 

6.  Finally,  mankind,  in  i\\QU  pursuit  of  happiness, 
3 


26  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

evince  their  practical  atheism.  Whither  should  a  crea- 
ture in  quest  of  joy  go  to  obtain  it,  but  straight  to  him, 
who  made,  and  who  sustains  both  that  which  enjoys 
and  that  which  is  enjoyed,  his  maker  and  preserver, 
and  the  world's.  Yet  men  fly  from  God  for  happiness. 
Oh !  could  they  fly  to  the  dominions  and  the  creatures 
of  another  equal  God,  it  might  do  ;  but  they  fly  to 
his  creatures  for  it ;  they  look  to  his  world  for  it,  as 
if  God  could  not  make  us  infinitely  more  happy  than 
his  world  can  ;  as  if  he  would  not  imbitter  its  every 
stream,  and  poison  all  its  fountains ;  as  if  his  crea- 
tures could  make  us  happy  any  longer  than  he  per- 
mits. Oh  !  what  awful  infatuation  ! — and  yet  is  not 
this  what  many  of  you  are  doing  ?  You  are  seeking 
and  finding  your  happiness  in  the  violation  of  his 
laws,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  creatures  !  What 
do  you  get  ?  How  long  will  it  last  7  Can  such  a  state 
of  things  be  long  permitted  to  exist  ?  Will  God  be 
able  to  endure  it  forever  ?  Oh,  no  ;  the  end  draweth 
nigh,  when  all  the  sources  of  your  present  happiness 
will  be  dried  up,  and  the  fountain  of  living  waters, 
which  you  like  not,  will  alone  remain.  Whence 
have  you  your  joys  and  comforts  now  ?— from  your 
family  ? — it  shall  be  broken  up  ;  from  your  business? 
— it  shall  be  discontinued,  and  you  shall  leave  the 
world,  and  the  world  itseh"  shall  be  consumed,  and 
nothing  will  be  left  but  the  soul  and  God.  You 
cannot  be  happy  in  any  thing  else  ;  and,  if  you  love 
him  not,  you  cannot  be  happy  in  him.  Eternity 
will  be  but  a  blank  without  God  ;  and  yet  you  that 
are  without  him  in  this  world,  will  be  without  him 
in  that  to  come.     Now  you  are  contented,  though 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  27 

without  God,  because  you  are  not,  in  every  sense  of 
the  expression,  without  him.  You  are  not  without 
some  tokens  of  his  favor  ;  you  are  not  without  many 
fruits  of  his  beneficence.  He  is  mindful  of  you, 
though  you  are  not  of  him ;  he  is  kind,  though  you 
are  unkind ;  but  it  will  not  be  so  when  the  period  of 
probation  is  closed,  and  the  offer  of  mercy  withdrawn 
forever.  You  will  be,  in  every  sense,  without  God, 
without  his  favor,  his  fellowship,  one  token  of  good, 
or  word  of  comfort,  or  ray  of  hope  from  him,  forsa- 
ken of  him,  and,  but  that  he  remembers  your  sins, 
forgotten  of  him  forever. 

Oh !  live  not  any  longer  without  God  in  the  world  ; 
recognize  him ;  return  to  him,  and  attach  thyself 
to  him ;  "  acquaint  thyself  now  with  God  and  be  at 
peace  :  thereby  good  shall  come  unto  thee."  When 
shall  it  be  said  of  you,  "  but  now  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye 
who  sometime  were  far  off,  are  made  nigh  by  the 
blood  of  Christ  ?"  Shall  it  ever  be  said  of  you  ? 

Will  you  be  an  orphan,  a  voluntary,  guilty,  un- 
pitied  orphan  forever ;  fatherless,  friendless,  helpless, 
hopeless,  wicked,  wretched,  hateful,  and  hating, 
through  a  tedious  and  tiresome  eternity  ?  You  are  in 
danger  of  it.  The  probability  is  strong  that  you 
will  be  all  this ;  and  yet  you  need  not  be.  Christ 
can  save  you.  "  He  is  able  to  save  unto  the  utter- 
most." He  is  able,  willing,  ready,  waiting,  anxious. 
What  more  do  you  want  ? 


SERMON   IL 


God  is  Love. — 1  John  iv.  8. 


It  is  a  fact,  and  one  worthy  of  very  particular  ob- 
servation, that  those  truths,  which  are  most  certain^ 
and  most  easily  and  generally  received,  are,  at  the 
same  time,  the  most  mysterious,  and  hard  to  be  under- 
stood. Those  doctrines,  in  support  of  which  there 
exists  the  most  complete  and  irrefragable  evidence, 
in  demonstration  of  which  there  can  be  adduced  ar- 
guments of  unanswerable  and  irresistible  cogency, 
are  the  very  doctrines  which  are  attended  with  the 
greatest  difficulties,  and  most  exposed  to  cavil  and 
objection.  The  evidence  in  favor  of  truth  seems 
to  be  clear  and  satisfactory  just  in  proportion  as  the 
truth  itself  is  dark  and  incomprehensible.  Some 
men  say  they  do  not  and  cannot  believe  mysteries. 
They  do  believe  them.  If  they  do  not,  they  do  not 
believe  anything,  and  it  is  unreasonable  that  they 
should  believe  anything,  for  in  refusing  to  believe 
certain  mysteries,  they  reject  clearer  and  better  evi- 
dence than  is  presented  in  favor  of  any  other  class  of 
truths.  Now,  the  only  ground  on  which  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  refuse  assent  to  any  proposition,  is  defect 
of  evidence  in  support  of  it.  If  these  propositions, 
expressive  of  mysterious  truths,  are  sustained  by  the 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  29 

greater  amount  of  evidence,  and  yet  are  not  believed, 
there  is  increased  reason  for  disbelieving  other  propo- 
sitions, supported  by  a  less  amount  of  evidence. 
There  is  nothing,  therefore,  more  indispensable  than 
the  rejection  of  mysteries  or  truths  which  lie  open  to 
some  objection,  while  there  is  enough  of  positive 
proof  in  their  favor.  There  is  no  prejudice  more 
unreasonable.  Indeed  it  is  so  unreasonable  that  no 
man  is,  or  can  be,  uniformly  controlled  by  it.  It  may 
prevail  to  the  rejection  of  some  mysteries,  the  myste- 
ries of  the  Bible,  for  example  ;  but  there  are  others 
which,  in  spite  of  this  prejudice,  are,  and  must  be 
believed.  Men  cannot  get  rid  of  facts,  simply  because 
they  cannot  understand  how  they  shoidd  be.  The 
mind,  when  not  under  some  undue  bias  from  the 
heart,  will  yield  its  assent,  where  there  is  proof,  and 
the  proof  is  contemplated  and  weighed,  without  wait- 
ing for  explanations,  even  though  it  should  be  mani- 
fest that  the  explanations  cannot  be  given. 

That  there  is  a  God,  a  self-existent,  intelligent,  and 
supreme  first  cause,  is  a  proposition  more  easily, 
promptly,  and  .universally  admitted,  than  perhaps 
any  other.  And  nothing  is  more  reasonable  than  the 
belief  of  it.  The  positive  proof  in  favor  of  such  an 
existence,  amounts  to  absolute  demonstration,  than 
which  nothing  in  mathematical  science  can  be  more 
exact  and  unanswerable  ;  and  it  is  a  belief,  without 
which  the  mind  perceives  it  could  not  get  along. 
This  it  must  believe,  or  else  admit  the  greatest  ab- 
surdities and  the  veriest  impossibilities  that  can  be 
conceived  of  And  yet  what  difficulties  attend  this 
first  great  doctrine  of  religion,  and  how  vain  the  at- 
3* 


30  NEVINS'    SERBIONS. 

tempt  to  unravel  them  !  That  there  is  a  God,  a  mind 
of  infinite  intelUgencej  independent,  and  uncaused, 
without  beginning,  or  change,  or  end  ;  a  being  of  ab- 
solute omnipresence,  whose  perception  is  omnis- 
cience and  whose  will  is  omnipotence,  whose  vision 
of  the  future  is  as  distinct  as  that  of  the  past  and  pre- 
sentj'who  searches  hearts  and  understands  the  thought 
of  man  afar  off,  in  whose  hand  our  breath  is,  and  whose 
are  all  our  ways.  What  an  admission  this  for  the 
human  mind  to  make  !  Yet  it  makes  it,  and  tena- 
ciously adheres  to  it.  But  how  there  should  be  such 
a  being,  it  is  not  only  impossible  to  answer,  but  al- 
most presumptuous  to  ask.  How  many  interrogato- 
ries, in  regard  to  this  being,  the  athiest  might  put,  to 
which  none  of  us  know  how  to  reply.  How  promptly 
he  can  object  to  our  belief,  and  how  plausibly  cavil 
at  our  doctrine,  how  ingeniously  suggest  its  attendant 
difficulties  ;  and  yet  we  are  not  and  ought  not  to  be 
shaken  in  our  belief.  Some  reject  the  doctrine  of  the 
trinity,  as  too  mysterious  and  incomprehensible 
to  be  believed.  But  that  a  Supreme  Being  should 
exist,  is  more  mysterious  than  that  he  should  exist  in 
three  persons.  The  former  is  a  greater  admission 
than  the  latter,  after  the  former  has  been  made.  To 
speak  far  within  bounds,  not  to  tread  on  the  limits  of 
truth,  the  unity  is  equally  open  to  objection  as  the 
trinity.  The  difficulty,  whatever  it  be,  lies  in  the 
admission  that  there  is  a  Supreme  Being.  But  there 
is,  and  we  admit  it,  and  that  is  enough. 

But,  what  is  God  ?  who  can  answer  that  ? 

Dionysius  once  asked  of  Simonides,  what  is  God  ? 
The  philosopher  was  aware  that  it  was  a  difficult 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  31 

question.  He,  therefore,  asked  the  indulgence  of  a  day 
for  deliberation.  But  though  difficult,  he  thought 
that  he  could  answer  it,  therefore  asked  only  a  day. 
But  at  the  close  of  the  day,  he  found  that  instead  of 
unraveUing  the  difficulties  he  had  seen  at  first,  he 
had  only  involved  himself  in  greater,  and  he  begged 
to  be  allowed  two  days.  At  the  end  of  the  two,  con- 
vinced that  he  wanted  still  a  longer  time,  he  required 
three;  and  so  it  went  on.  He  never  gave  the  an- 
swer. The  more  he  studied,  the  more  was  his  mind 
perplexed.  The  deeper  he  penetrated,  the  deeper  he 
perceived  he  had  to  go.  "  Can'st  thou  by  searching 
find  out  God  !  can'st  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  un- 
to perfection  ?  It  is  as  high  as  heaven  ;  what  can'st 
thou  do  ?  Deeper  than  hell,  what  can'st  thou  know  ? 
The  measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth,  and 
broader  than  the  sea."  There  is  no  searching:  of  his 
understanding.     It  is  infinite. 

The  question,  "  what  is  God,"  if  it  have  reference 
to  the  divine  essence,  or  the  reason  and  mode  of  the 
divine  existence,  is  absolutely  unanswerable,  and  as 
unanswerable  with  as  without  a  divine  revelation. 
It  is  something  which  not  only  is  not,  but  cannot  be 
revealed.  "  The  things  of  God  knoweth  no  man  but 
the  Spirit  of  God."  There  is  only  one  mind  that  can 
comprehend  God,  and  that  is  the  divine  mind  itself. 
It  alone  can  take  in  its  own  dimensions.  Our  know- 
ledge of  God  is  confined  to  facts.  These  are  the  sub- 
jects of  revelation  ;  and  the  results  of  our  reasoning 
go  not  beyond  bare  facts.  Nor  need  this  be  regretted. 
The  knowledge  of  facts  is  here  all  which  we  want, 
and  all  that  we  could  make  use  of,  if  we  had  more. 


32  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

What  if  we  understood  the  reason  and  principle  of 
magnetic  attraction,  could  the  magnet  be  applied  to 
any  other  uses  than  those  which  it  subserves  now  7 
Could  the  mariner's  compass  be  a  more  accurate  or 
useful  instrument  than  it  is  at  present?  Suppose 
the  farmer  were  capable  of  knowing  and  actually 
knew  how  the  seed  in  the  earth  vegetates,  and  the 
grain  springs  and  grows,  would  he,  in  conse- 
quence of  that  knowledge,  have  larger  or  more  use- 
ful crops  ?  There  is  no  possible  use  that  he  could 
make  of  this  knowledge.  It  is  but  a  few  centuries 
since  the  true  theoryof  the  solar  system  has  been  un- 
folded, but  were  not  the  influences  of  the  sun  as  cheer- 
ing and  benign  before,  as  they  have  been  since  that 
knowledge  ?  I  employ  these  illustrations  to  show  a 
truth  often  lamentably  overlooked,  that  a  knowledge 
of  facts  is  alone  practical ;  that  this  knowledge  of 
subjects  is  all  we  ever  have  occasion  to  make  use  of; 
so  that  for  every  practical  purpose,  it  matters  not 
whether  the  mode  of  an  existence  or  the  reason  of  a 
fact  be  known  or  not.  Now  apply  these  remarks  to 
the  facts  and  doctrines  of  revealed  theology.  The 
Bible  instructs  us  that  God  is  omnipresent,  exists  in 
three  persons,  and  was  manifest  in  the  flesh  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  announces  these  facts. 
These  we  know,  and  this  is  all  the  knowledge  on 
these  subjects  that  we  can  make  use  of  If  it  had  told 
us,  and  we  could  understand  how  God  is  omnipresent, 
and  exists  in  three  persons,  and  was  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  we  should  be  no  better  off  than  we  are  now.  It  is 
the  fact  of  the  divine  omnipresence,  not  the  manner 
of  it.  that  exerts  the  influence.     The  doctrine  that 


33 


God  is  every  Avhere,  is  the  practical  doctrine,  not 
hov^  he  is  every  where.  So  if  I  beUeve  the  fact  that 
Christ  is  both  God  and  man,  that  behef  is  just  as 
operative  as  if  I  knew  and  saw  how  the  two  naturcg 
are  united.  A  person  will  sometimes  say,  '^  such  a 
doctrine  is  of  no  use  to  me,  because  I  do  not  compre- 
hend it,"  when  in  fact  it  is,  or  might  be,  of  equal  use 
to  the  man  as  if  he  did  comprehend  it.  All  that  is 
necessary  to  the  use  of  any  doctrine,  is  to  understand 
and  believe  it  as  a  fact.  But  men  are  ever  for  carry- 
ing their  knowledge  beyond  facts.  This,  however, 
so  far  as  theology  is  concerned,  they  will  never  be 
able  to  do.  They  shall  never  know  how  the  divine 
nature  exists  in  three  persons  ;  certainly  never  on 
this  side  the  grave.  They  must  be  satisfied  with  the 
testimony  that  God  has  given. 

Among  the  facts  which  the  Bible  reveals  of  God, 
this  is  one;  "God  is  Love."  The  statement  is  at 
once  simple  and  sublime  ;  intelligible  and  affectino^ ; 
God  is  Love.  The  sentence  is  inspired.  The  con- 
ception is  divine.  It  must  be.  It  could  not  have 
originated  in  any  other  mind.  There  are  several 
tilings  in  this  announcement  worthy  of  notice  ;  first, 
the  use  of  the  abstract  term  love,  instead  of  the  con- 
crete loveli/  or  benevole?it.  In  our  descriptions  of  cha- 
racter we  always  make  use  of  the  latter.  We  say  of 
a  person  that  he  is  friendly,  not  friendship,  that  he  is 
loving  or  lovely,  not  love.  But  this  were  too  feeble 
in  speaking  of  God.  He  is  more  than  lovely  or  be- 
nevolent ;  these  terms  do  not  denote  qualities ;  but  the 
abstract  love  defines  the  nature  in  which  these  quali- 
ties inhere.    And  this  God  is.     He  is  love,  essential 


34  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

love.  Benevolence  is  not  a  mere  quality  or  attribute 
of  God.  It  is  his  very  nature.  It  is  not  something 
which  exists  in  him.  It  is  himself.  The7i  it  is  wor- 
thy of  notice  that,  in  selecting  the  abstract  term  to 
describe  him,  the  term  made  choice  of  denotes  not 
any  natural,  but  a  moral  excellence.  God  is  all 
powerful,  and  all  wise,  and  of  infinite  majesty,  but  it 
is  not  said  that  he  is  power,  or  wisdom,  or  greatness. 
Such  a  definition  would  only  have  excited  terror  and 
awe.  But  God  is  Love.  Power  belongs  to  him,  and 
wisdom,  but  these  are  not  his  nature  ;  these  are  not 
what  he  is  ;  He  is  Love.  Power  and  majesty  rather 
repel,  but  love  is  the  great  principle  of  attraction  in 
the  moral  universe,  and  God  is  Love. 

Again,  let  it  be  observed  that  the  term  selected  is 
not  justice,  nor  truth,  nor  mercy,  though  these  are 
all  moral  in  their  nature,  and  all  belong  to  him.  He 
is  merciful,  and  just  and  true  ;  but  he  is  not  mercy, 
nor  justice,  nor  truth.  He  is  love  ;  love  is  the  general 
exercise  ;  mercy  and  justice  are  the  particulars  under 
it.  Love  is  the  essence.  The  others  are  but  modi- 
fications of  love.  God  is  never  unjust,  never  cruel, 
never  false,  but  justice,  mercy  and  truth  are  not  seen 
prominent  in  every  thing.  But  love  shines  forth  and 
is  seen  in  every  thing.  God  is  love  ;  I  can  find  no 
terms  in  which  to  express  adequately  my  admiration 
of  this  wonderful  definition,  and  my  attachment  to  it. 
God  is  love — God  is  love.  What  means  it  ?  And  what 
follows  from  it  ?  I  will  tell  you  some  of  the  things  it 
means,  and  some  of  the  consequences  that  follow 
from  it ;  in  doing  which  I  shall  not  draw  largely  on 
the  resources  of  my  own  reason,  but  be  instructed  by 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  35 

the  Scriptures.  God  is  his  own  interpreter  ;  he  alone 
can  reason  from  propositions  which  regard  his  na- 
ture and  attributes.  We  are  entirely  incompetent  to 
pronounce  upon  the  conclusions  that  may  and  ought 
to  be  drawn  from  the  truth  that  he  is  love.  It  is  not 
for  us,  it  is  only  for  him  to  say  what  is  and  what  is 
not  compatible  with  his  being  Love.  Yet  how  prone 
are  men  to  take  the  decision  into  their  own  hands, 
and  to  put  in  their  own  unauthorized  and  unscrip- 
tural  inferences.  Perhaps  they  doubt  in  their  hearts 
whether  he  is  love  ;  they  will  admit  that  he  is  in  some 
degree  benevolent,  (for  they  cannot  be  blind  to  the  nu- 
merous indications  of  benevolence  that  are  visible 
in  his  plans  and  doings,)  but  that  he  is  essential  benev- 
olence they  hesitate  to  admit,  for  how,  if  he  were,  should 
evil  have  existence,  how  should  sin  have  been  permit- 
ted to  enter  among  his  creatures,  and  so  many  of  them 
become  the  subjects  and  victims  of  such  an  amount  and 
variety  of  wretchedness  ?  What  they  say,  is  God  love  ! 
and  man  so  miserable  !  Can  it  be  ?  is  the  secret,  unut- 
tered  interrogation  of  many  a  heart.  But  they  more 
commonly  admit  that  God  is  love,  and  taking  up  this 
truth,  they,  instead  of  consulting  the  Scriptures  in  re- 
gard to  what  does,  or  does  not  follow  from  it,  proceed 
to  make  such  inferences  as  they  say  seem  to  them 
reasonable,  and  in  them  they  live  and  perhaps  die 
complacently  and  securely  reposing.  '•  God  is  love," 
they  say,  "  therefore  he  will  not  punish  sin  ;  certain- 
ly he  will  not  punish  it  severely ;  it  is  impossible 
he  should  punish  it  eternally  ;  there  is  no  hell,  or 
it  is  but  a  purgatory,  a  place  of  discipline  for  hea- 
ven ;  he  cannot  be  wroth  with  his  creatures  ;  im- 


36  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

penitence  in  sin  is  unreasonable  to   be  sure,  but  it 
is  not  so  very  dangerous  ;  we  shall  all  be  happy, 
and  get  to  heaven  at  last ;  God  is  love."     These  are 
some    of  their  conclusions  from   the  doctrine   that 
"  God  is  love."     How  unlike  the  conclusions  deduced 
from  the  same  doctrine  by  the  men  who  spake  and 
wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
which  are  authorized  by  this  very  being,  who  is  love  ! 
He  says  that  he  is  love,  and  his  word  is  true,  and  yet 
he  says  that  the  soul  which  sinneth  shall  die,  that  ex- 
cept men  repent  they  shall  perish,  that  they  who 
know  him  not  and  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  his  Son 
shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction,  that 
he  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day,  and  hath  pre- 
pared for  them  a  place  where  is  weeping,  wailing  and 
gnashing  of  teeth,  separated  from  heaven  by  a  great 
gulf,   across  which  there  is  no  passage.     Now  does 
God  speak,  or  will  he  act  inconsistently  ?  You  see 
how  your  fond  inferences  conflict  with  the  conclu- 
sions which  the  Bible  authorizes.  Which  are  correct  ? 
Which  will  prevail  ?  If  yours,  then  either  the  Bible  is 
not  the  word  of  God,   or  he  is  untrue  :    and  if  the 
Bible  is  not  the  word  of  God,  or  his  word  is  not  to  be 
depended  upon,  then  none  of  its  statements  are  wor- 
thy of  credit,   and  consequently  the  statement  that 
God  is  love  is  not  to  be  believed.    If  you  give  credit  to 
the  Bible  when  it  says  that  God  is  love,  (as  you  are 
all  willing  enough  to  do,)  on  what  principle  and  by 
what  right  can  you  refuse  assent  to  it,   when,  with 
equal  explicitness  and  authority,  it  asserts  that  this 
same  God  will  punish  with  everlasting  destruction 
all  such  as  obey  not  the  Gospel  ?  Is  there  consisten- 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  37 

cy  here  ?  Is  this  acting  honorably  ?  What !  Will  you 
cull  out  of  the  Bible  what  you  like,  and  retaining 
that,  reject  all  that  you,  a  poor,  finite  and  depraved 
creature,  may  happen  to  dislike  ;  and  then  profess  to 
be  a  believer  of  the  Bible,  when  in  fact  you  believe 
only  just  so  much  of  it  as  you  please  to  believe  ?  Oh 
shame !  to  treat  God  and  God's  word  in  such  a  man- 
ner. 

That  God  is  love  implies  that  and  no  more  than 
that  which  the  Scriptures  allow  that  it  does.  It 
means, 

1.  That  God  regards  all  the  genuine  moral  excel- 
lence in  the  universe,  with  a  complacency  proportion- 
ed to  the  degree  in  which  it  exists.  His  standard  of 
moral  excellence  is  different  from  that  of  men,  but 
wherever  he  sees  what  he  regards  as  such,  (and  his 
estimate  is  according  to  truth,)  wherever  he  sees  holi- 
ness, wherever  he  sees  anything  that  morally  resem- 
bles himself,  on  it  and  its  subject  he  looks  with  inef- 
fable delight  and  satisfaction  ;  and  on  that  being  he 
smiles  benignantly  and  sends  blessing,  and  with  him 
he  evermore  dwells  !  and  this  is  true  of  every  real 
Christian,  though  he  be  now  but  imperfectly  holy. 
God  looks  complacently  on  him,  and  his  complacency 
is  in  proportion  to  the  Christian's  holiness.  God  delights 
to  do  him  good  ;  God  is  his  friend,  his  almighty  and 
unchangeable  friend  ;  God  cares  for  him  ;  yes,  for 
you  believer,  God  careth.  What  a  reflection  this  to 
raise  your  drooping  spirits,  and  to  cheer  your  melan- 
choly hours  ;  why  should  you  have  any  such  hours  ? 
Why  if  at  times  you  have  not  other  things  to  rejoice 
in,  do  you  not  yet  always  rejoice  in  him,  whom  you  al- 

4 


38 


ways  have,  who  is  always  the  same  ?  Once  I  won- 
dered at  that  direction,  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always," 
but  now  I  see  how  it  may  be,  and  why  it  ons^ht  to  be 
obeyed.  The  Lord  reigns,  and  he  is  love,  and 
he  is  the  Christian's  fast,  almighty  and  unchangeable 
friend.  Why  should  poverty,  sickness,  bereavement, 
disappointment  or  even  death  interrupt  your  joy  in 
him  7  Behold  he  is  love,  and  his  dominion  is  univer- 
sal, and  he  is  your  friend  !  what  a  ground  is  here  for 
confidence  unwavering,  and  perpetual  rejoicing  !  But 
if  you  are  not  a  subject  of  holiness,  if  you  are  not  in 
the  most  strict  and  spiritual  sense  a  Christian,  I  can- 
not speak  this  language  of  consolation  to  you.  I  can 
say  no  more  than  that  God  has  a  general  good  will 
towards  you,  for 

2.  That  God  is  love  implies  that  he  has  a  benevo- 
lent regard,  and  good  will  towards  all  his  creatures. 
"  The  Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender  mercies  are 
over  all  his  works."  It  means  that  he  delights  in  the 
happiness  of  his  creatures  and  has  no  pleasure  in 
their  misery.  But  it  does  not,  therefore,  follow  that 
he  will  not  permit  evil  to  befall  his  creatures  nor  that 
he  will  not  himself  inflict  it  upon  them,  for  he  has 
permitted  it,  and  has  inflicted  it,  and  in  so  doing,  has 
done  nothing  inconsistent  with  a  nature  of  benevo- 
lence, and  what  consistently  he  has  done,  he  may 
consistently  do  hereafter.  Because  God  delights  in 
the  happiness  of  his  creatures,  it  does  not  follow  that 
he  will  exert  his  omnipotence  to  secure  the  happiness 
of  all  of  them.  There  may  be  reasons  of  infinite 
wisdom  why  he  should  not  do  that.  He  is  the  best, 
indeed  the  only  judge  of  that.     It  does  not  follow  that 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  39 

he  will  be  deaf  to  the  demands  of  justice,  that  he  will 
forbear  to  execute  the  penalties  of  his  law,  or  that  he 
will  make  every  one  the  object  of  his  mercy,  whom 
sin  has  reduced  to  a  state  of  misery  and  ruin.  Eve- 
ry man  that  reads  the  Bible,  and  every  man  that  ex- 
ercises his  reason  must  perceive  that  these  conclusions 
do  not  legitimately  follow  from  the  doctrine  that  God 
is  love.  What !  does  the  exercise  of  justice  infer  a 
defect  of  benevolence.  Is  not  justice  a  modification 
of  love,  not  a  contradiction  of  it?  Does  a  benevolent 
being  never  exact  rigid  justice  ?  If  love  dictated  and 
sanctioned  the  penalty  annexed  to  the  law  of  God^ 
can  it  be  contrary  to  love  to  execute  that  penalty  ? 
May  not  divine  benevolence  permit,  and  even  demand 
its  infliction  ?  Does  not  a  forbearance  to  execute,  and 
the  remission  of  a  penalty  often  imply  a  want  of  be- 
nevolence ?  Do  we  not  see  it  to  be  sometimes  the  part 
of  benevolence  not  to  spare  ?  It  is  a  grand  mistake  to 
suppose  that  love  and  mercy  precisely  answer  to  each 
other  :  and  that  therefore  because  all  are  the  objects  of 
the  general  benevolence  of  God,  all  will  be  the  ol> 
jects  of  his  special  and  saving  mercy. 

3.  That  God  is  love  implies  that  benevolence  is 
the  principle  and  motive  of  all  his  designs  and  doings ; 
and  that  the  end  he  proposes  in  what  he  designs 
and  does,  and  the  means  he  employs  to  accomplish 
that  end,  are  in  the  highest  degree  benevolent.  Love 
is  not  a  quality  of  the  divine  character,  which  only 
occasionally  comes  in  to  influence  his  determinations 
and  acts.  It  is  that  very  character  itself.  It  is  his 
nature,  he  cannot  purpose  or  act  without  it.  It  is 
present  to  approve  every  plan,  and  to  prompt  every 


40  NEVINS'   SERMONS. 

movement  and  act.  Every  thing  which  God  designs 
and  does  is  characterized  by  benevolence.  He  is  be- 
nevolent in  his  threatenings,  as  well  as  in  his  pro- 
mises ;  in  his  judgments,  equally  as  in  his  mercies ; 
in  inflicting  evil,  as  in  conferring  good ;  when  he 
frowns,  as  when  he  smiles ;  when  his  dispensations 
lower,  as  well  as  when  they  look  out  of  a  clear  and 
cheerful  heaven  ;  at  all  times,  and  in  all  things  he  is 
benevolent,  because  his  nature  is  benevolence  ;  he  is 
love.  This  I  fear  is  not  believed  by  all ;  certainly 
all  do  not  consider  it  as  they  ought.  They  believe 
that  God  is,  on  the  whole,  a  benevolent  being ;  but 
they  do  not  see  and  acknowledge  his  benevolence  in 
every  thing ;  and  their  feeling  is,  that  he  might  have 
afforded  stronger  and  clearer  proofs  of  his  benevo- 
lence, if  sin  had  not  entered  the  world,  and  misery 
overspread  mankind  ;  and  if  there  were  no  punish- 
ment in  reserve,  they  feel  as  if  God  would  have  been 
more  benevolent.  But  they  are  altogether  mistaken, 
and  they  ought  to  correct  this  mistake.  God  is  infi- 
nite in  benevolence.  God  is  Love.  What  more  could 
he  be  ?  He  could  not  have  been  more  benevolent  than 
he  is.  He  could  not  have  acted  more  benevolently 
than  he  has  done.  There  is  nothing  that  God  has 
done,  that  is  to  be  regretted.  It  is  only  for  what  man 
has  done  that  there  should  be  regret ;  and  God's  per- 
mitting even  that,  is  not  to  be  regretted ;  for  his  per- 
mission implies  no  approbation,  no  sanctioning  of  it. 
It  is  not  for  lack  of  benevolence  in  God  that  anything 
is  as  it  is  ;  and  though  clouds  may  intervene  now, 
yet  the  time  is  coming  when  his  goodness  in  every 
dispensation  and  doing  shall  shine  conspicuous  to 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  41 

every  mind.  He  will  make  all  things,  ultimately,  to 
promote  his  grand  design,  his  own  glory,  and  that 
which  is  coincident  with  it,  the  greatest  good  of  his 
extended  and  populous  universe  of  intelligent  beings. 
That  will  be  infallibly  and  eternally  secured ;  and 
there  will  be  no  more  punishment  and  suffering  than 
he  sees  to  be  necessary,  as  a  testimony  to  his  justice, 
as  a  token  of  his  hatred  of  sin,  a  memorial  to  the  re- 
deemed of  the  ruin  they  are  saved  from,  and  as  an 
example  to  the  whole  moral  creation.  Hell  will  be 
just  the  prison-house  of  the  universe,  and  its  inmates, 
taken  from  two,  and  probably  from  only  two  of  all 
the  numerous  families  of  creatures,  will  bear  the  same 
relation,  and  possibly  about  the  same  proportion  to 
the  free  and  happy  beings  of  the  creation  beside,  as 
the  inmates  of  our  penitentiaries  bear  to  the  commu- 
nities, for  whose  security  they  are  established ;  and 
will  dLuy  of  you  consent  to  be  of  those  who  shall 
throughout  eternity  stand  in  this  relation  to  the  holy 
and  happy  universe  of  God,  monuments  of  his  dis- 
pleasure against  sin,  sacrifices  to  his  justice,  beacons 
to  deter  others  from  sin,  suffering  as  an  example  and 
warning,  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ?  You  are  in 
danger  of  being  this  ;  and  your  danger  arises  in  part 
from  your  sceptical  disregard  of  the  very  statement 
and  appeal  which  I  have  been  making.  This  evil 
may  come  upon  you,  just,  because  you  will  not  be- 
lieve that  it  is  real,  and  feel  no  inducement,  therefore, 
to  take  measures  for  avoiding  it. 

How  dreadful  will  be  the  penal  sufferings  of  the  im- 
penitent in  a  future  world,  when  it  shall  be  seen  that 
not  only  justice  sanctions,  but  benevolence  approves 
4* 


42 


and  requires  them ;  when  it  shall  be  seen  that  the  in- 
dignation which  burns  against  them  is  the  indignation 
of  love  ;  not  like  the  wrath  of  man,  rash,  furious,  in- 
considerate, transient ;  but  calm,  deliberate,  determin- 
ed, steady,  unchangeable  !  And  will  ye  run  the  risk  of 
being  the  objects  and  victims  of  such  indignation  ? 
Will  ye  tempt  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,  the  wrath  of  a 
nature  so  mild  and  so  meek?  When  that  is  once 
roused,  what  can  ever  lull  it  to  sleep  again,  and  who 
can  stand  before  it  ?  Will  ye  not  repent  and  betake 
yourselves  to  Christ  ?  Will  ye  not  trust  in  him  and 
turn  to  God,  now,  while  yet  ye  may  ? 

The  subject  affords  you  encouragement;  for  if 
God  is  love,  certainly  he  will  welcome  and  forgive 
the  returning  penitent.  He  will  in  no  wise  cast  out 
the  sinner  that  comes  to  him  through  Christ.  He 
has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  rather 
that  he  should  turn  and  live.  He  is  long  suffering 
to  us  ward,  because  he  is  not  willing  that  any  should 
perish,  but  come  to  repentance.  Why  then  will  ye 
die  7  Why  will  ye  hold  out  in  enmity  and  opposi- 
tion to  a  being  whose  nature  is  very  benevolent,  a 
being  who  is  love  ?  Ah  !  how  this  subject  illustrates 
the  depravity  of  human  nature,  the  wickedness  of 
the  human  heart !  "  The  carnal  mind,"  we  read, 
"  is  enmity  against  God  ;"  not  an  enemy  merely,  but 
the  abstract  term  is  used,  enmity ;  and  it  is  against 
God  ;  and  God  is  Love  ;  and  so  it  is  enmity  against 
love.  The  heart  of  the  unregenerate  man  has  for  the 
object  of  its  enmity  and  opposition,  not  merely  a  be- 
ing who  is  lovely  and  benevolent,  but  a  being  who  is 
Jove  itself ;  for  God  is  Love  ;  and  yet  ye  will  persist 


43 


in  enmity  to  him.  Ye  are  not  subject  to  the  law  of 
God,  submissive  to  his  will,  attached  to  his  cause,  in- 
terested in  his  worship.  "  I  know  you  that  you  have 
not  the  love  of  God  in  you." 

Is  it  not  reasonable  that  he  should  be  loved,  and 
loved  universally  and  supremely  ;  with  the  heart  and 
the  whole  heart ;  when  he  is  not  only  lovely  and 
benevolent,  but  each  infinitely  ;  yea,  essential  love 
itself?  Ought  he  not  to  be  loved?  Shall  he  not  be 
loved  ? 

And  ought  not  his  will  to  be  submitted  to,  when  it 
is  the  will  of  one  who  is  love  ?  And  his  law  obeyed, 
when  it  is  a  law  of  love,  its  object  love,  and  the  sum 
of  all  its  enactments  love  ?  for  love  is  the  end  of  the 
commandments,  and  the  fulfilhng  of  the  law  ;  and 
yet  men  break  through  this  commandment,  and  tram- 
ple upon  this  law,  despising  its  obligation,  and  defy- 
ing its  sanctions. 

And  is  it  still  so  with  any  of  you  ?  and  will  you 
persist  ? 

God  is  Love.  Oh  !  when  shall  man  be  ;  love,  holy, 
heavenly  love  ;  akin  to  angels  ;  like  God  ?  when  shall 
the  last  root  of  enmity  be  removed  ;  and  love  reign 
in  the  heart,  from  which  it  has  been  banished  by  sin, 
iiot^only  dominant,  but  alone  ?  In  heaven.  Christian, 
and  in  the  transition  from  earth  to  heaven ;  never 
till  then  ;  and  can  you  not  say,  then,  "  I  would  not 
live  always  ;"  and  sing  ''  there  shall  we  see  his  face, 
and  never,  never  sin  ?" 

But  every  one  will  not  realize  this.  Are  you 
likely  to  realize  it  ?  How  is  it  with  you  now  ?  Has 
love  commenced  its  reign  in  you,  and  is  it  now  sub- 
duing all  its  enemies  under  its  feet  7 


SERMON   III. 


He  delighteth  in  mercy. — Micah  vii.  18. 


There  are  statements  in  the  Bible  which,  to  a  super- 
ficial observer,  seem  to  proceed  from  erroneous  views 
of  human  nature.  But  on  investigation  it  will  be  found 
that  they  rest  upon  a  thorough  and  profound  know- 
ledge of  man,  his  condition,  wants  and  exercises. 
Many  illustrations  might  be  given  of  the  correctness 
of  this  remark  ;  but  my  purpose  admits  the  suggestion 
of  only  one.  A  careful  and  considerate  reader  of  the 
Bible  will  perceive  that  great  and  unwearied  pains 
are  taken  by  its  writers  to  persuade  sinners  that  God 
is  a  merciful  being,  a  very  merciful  being,  entirely 
worthy  of  their  confidence  in  this  respect ;  that  he  has 
no  pleasure  in  their  death,  that  he  is  quite  willing 
and  altogether  disposed  to  save  them  ;  and  this,  how- 
ever inveterate  their  sinful  habits,  however  depraved 
their  hearts,  accumulated  their  guilt,  deep  their  un- 
worthiness,  multiplied  and  enormous  their  transgres- 
sions. We  find  God  assuring  men  on  this  subject  in 
every  variety  of  language,  inviting  them  to  reason 
with  him  about  it,  and  for  the  sake  of  securing  their 
confidence,  actually  condescending  to  asseverate  un- 
der oath  that  he  has  no  pleasure  in  their  death  ;  and 
we  find  Christ  not  only  in  the  most  affectionate 
and  earnest  manner  inviting  sinners  to  come  to  him, 


45 

but  assuring  them  that  he  will  in  no  wise  cast  out  any 
that  do  come.  Why  this?  say  some  ;  what  need  of 
these  repeated  assurances,  these  strong  asseverations, 
this  oath  ?  Is  any  one  disposed  to  distrust  the  mercy  of 
God,  or  the  wilhngness  of  him  who  died  for  sinners, 
to  save  them  ?  These  declarations  appear  to  proceed 
on  a  mistaken  view  of  human  nature.  They  seem 
to  imply  that  there  is  in  sinners  a  proneness  to  doubt 
on  these  points  ;  to  fear  that  their  sins  are  too  many 
and  great  to  be  pardoned  and  that  they  have  carried 
them  beyond  the  reach  of  mercy's  most  extended  arm  ; 
whereas,  say  these  objectors,  there  exists  no  such 
proneness  in  human  nature,  and  there  is  nothing 
that  men  are  more  ready  to  admit  and  acquiesce  in 
than  that  God  is  merciful  and  salvation  easily  attain- 
able. Truly  in  some  of  mankind  it  must  be  confes- 
sed this  proneness  to  call  in  question  the  mercifulness 
of  God  does  not  appear.  They  do  not  doubt  in  the 
least  the  mercy  of  God.  They  even  exercise  a  most  pre- 
sumptuous and  unwarranted  confidence  in  it.  They 
believe  that  God  is  so  very  willing  to  save,  that  he  will 
save  them  in  their  own  way  ;  that  he  is  not  only  will- 
ing to  save  men  from  their  sins,  but  will  even  save 
themm  their  sins ;  so  ready  to  pardon,  that  he  will  par- 
don them  whether  they  repent  or  not ;  and  that  he  will 
not  let  them  perish,  however  obstinately  bent  upon  pe- 
rishing they  maybe.  These  I  own,  need  no  such  state- 
ments to  assure  them,  as  those  I  have  referred  to  ;  and 
for  them  they  were  not  made.  They  were  designed  lor 
quite  another  class  of  persons,  in  whom  there  does  ex- 
ist the  very  tendency  to  doubt,  which  they  are  calcu- 
lated tomeet.  They  were  intended  for  convinced  and 


46 


concerned  sinners.  These  need  them  ;  and  the  Bible 
would  be  an  incomplete  work,  did  it  not  contain  such 
statements.  I  appeal  to  those  who  have  been  con- 
victed of  sin,  who  have  seen  and  appreciated  the^vil 
of  sinning  against  God,  and  have  been  introduced  to  an 
acquaintance  with  their  own  hearts,  if  they  have  not 
been  troubled  with  these  doubts,  and  subject  to  unbe- 
lief in  this  respect.  Before  you  were  illuminated  you 
found  nothing  easier  of  belief  than  God's  ability  and 
willingness  to  save  you.  Indeed  you  saw  no  reason 
why  you  should  perish.  But  since  you  were  en- 
lightened, have  you  not  found  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  persuading  yourselves  that  God  can  and  will  save 
such  as  you  are  ?  You  have  not  doubted  that  he  is 
merciful,  and  that  he  can  and  will  save  some  sinners, 
but  that  he  should  save  such  a  sinner,  as  you  perceive 
and  feel  yourself  to  be,  one  so  vile,  so  unworthy,  so 
rebellious,  that  there  should  be  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness for  you  as  well  as  for  them,  this  is  what  you  have 
found  it  difficult  to  believe.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mon, where  the  spirit  of  God  is,  than  these  doubts 
and  this  unbelief  I  hear  them  expressed  almost 
every  day.  "  I  fear  that  my  sins  are  too  great  to  be 
forgiven  ;  that  my  day  of  grace  is  past ;  that  there 
is  no  mercy  for  me  ;  I  see  clearly  that  God  might 
most  justly  withhold  his  forgiving  mercy  from  me, 
and  I  fear  that  he  will  do  it."  Expressions  such  as 
these  I  hear,  not  from  all  of  you,  not  from  those  who 
have  greatest  cause  to  use  them,  not  so  frequently 
from  the  elder  portion  of  the  congregation  ;  the  more 
criminal  class  ;  but  generally  it  is  from  those  who  have 
sinned  least,  and  who  have  been  the  shortest  time 


47 

engaged  in  sinning.  Those  who  have  least  to  fear 
are  almost  the  only  ones  that  entertain  and  express 
fear.  The  reason  is,  God  has  opened  their  eyes  to 
see,  what  the  others  have  closed  their  eyes,  that  they 
might  not  see.  I  recently  conversed  with  a  person 
of  sixteen,  and  shortly  after  with  one  past  sixty.  The 
first  said  with  agitation  and  weeping  unfeigned  ''  I 
fear  that  I  have  sinned  past  forgiveness."  The  other 
said  "  it  is  true,  I  have  been  a  sinner,  but"  and  here 
followed  a  long  string  of  apologies,  exceptions  and 
extenuations.  The  youth  of  sixteen  had  no  apolo- 
gy to  make.  Here  is  a  phenomenon.  What  is  your 
explanation  of  it  ?  We  are  at  no  loss  to  explain  it. 
The  former  had  been  awakened  and  enlightened  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  ;  the  latter  had  not  been.  To  him 
and  such  as  correspond  to  him  a  discourse  intended 
to  persuade  them  that  mercy  belongeth  unto  God, 
and  that  they  may  hope  in  it  for  their  salvation,  would 
be  inappropriate  and  worse  than  useless.  I  speak 
not  to  them  therefore,  but  to  those,  if  any  there  be 
here,  who  in  conviction  and  feeling  answer  to  the  de- 
scription given  of  the  other  individual ;  and  my  aim 
shall  be  to  persuade  them  now  without  further  delay 
and  without  any  mixture  of  doubt  to  confide  and 
hope  in  the  revealed  mercy  of  God,  however  many 
have  been  their  sins,  and  however  crimson  be  their 
guilt.     May  God  enable  me  to  reach  their  case. 

For  the  proof  that  God  is  merciful  we  are  entirely 
dependent  on  revelation.  The  deist  is  challenged 
to  produce  one  valid  argument  in  demonstration  of 
the  divine  mercifulness.  The  light  of  nature  dis- 
covers  nothing  beyond  bare  forbearance  ;    and  for- 


48 


bearance  does  not  necessarily  imply  mercy.  A  be- 
ino;  may  forbear  to  punish  for  other  reasons  than  that 
he  intends  to  forgive  the  transgressor.  A  respite  is 
not  always  granted  as  a  preliminary  to  a  pardon. 
But  be  it  admitted  that  God  is  merciful;  we  lose 
nothing  by  the  admission;  for  it  does  not  follow,  be- 
cause a  being  is  disposed  to  show  mercy,  that  he 
will^  in  every  case,  exercise  it.  There  may  be  consid- 
erations of  paramount  weight  forbidding  its  exercise. 
In  the  case  of  the  fallen  angels,  such  reasons  existed, 
we  needed  a  revelation,  therefore,  if  not  to  assure  us 
that  God  is  merciful,  yet  to  assure  us  that,  and  how 
he  can  and  will  exercise  mercy  towards  fallen  men. 
Such  a  revelation  God  has  given  to  us  ;  and, 

1.  It  announces  to  us  that  God  is  merciful,  and 
this  repeatedly  and  in  terms  the  most  explicit ;  and 
that  he  is  disposed  to  show  mercy  to  men,  and  can 
do  it  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  other  attributes 
of  his  character,  and  to  the  full  extent,  too,  of  forgiv- 
ing all  their  sins,  relieving  all  their  wretched- 
ness, and  supplying  all  their  wants.  Thus  the,  fact 
is  declared,  that  God  is  merciful ;  but  there  is  some- 
thing very  peculiar  in  the  manner  in  which  this 
doctrine  is  taught,  to  which  I  would  solicit  your  no- 
tice, as  well  worthy  of  it.  Observe,  j^r^if,  the  words 
synonymous  or  nearly  so  with  merciful,  which  are 
used  in  connection  with  it,  gracious^  long-sufferings 
slow  to  anger ^  pitiful;  and,  not  satisfied  with  the 
positive,  the  superlative  is  used  very  pitiful  and  very 
gracious,  too.  Observe,  secondly,  that  the  inspired 
writers,  not  content  with  the  singular,  mercy,  by  a 
felicitous  fault  of  style,  adopt  and  employ  the  plural 


49 

form,  77iercies  ;  they  speak  of  the  mercies  of  God  ; 
nor  are  they  content  with  a  simple  plural ;  but  they 
speak  of  these  mercies  as  manifold  ;  yea,  they  speak 
of  the  multitude  of  his  mercies.  This  is  strange 
language.  It  expresses  a  conception  not  of  human 
origin.  And  to  denote  that  there  is  nothing  uncer- 
tain about  these  mercies,  they  speak  of  them  as  sure 
mercies  ;  and  they  speak  of  them  as  not  only  many, 
but  great !  ay,  and  great  above  the  heavens^  they 
say  ;  and  they  speak  of  the  greatness  of  his  mercies, 
in  magnitude  equal  to  what  they  are  in  multitude. 
Many,  and  great,  and  sure  mercies.  Think  of  that. 
But  they  are  not  mere  mercies,  but  tender  mercies ; 
and  these  mercies  they  speak  of,  not  as  derived^  but  as 
original  with  God.  Him  they  speak  of,  as  the  Fa- 
ther of  mercies  ;  and  they  take  care  to  tell  us  that 
mercy  is  not  accidental  to  God,  but  essential  ;  they 
speak  of  it  as  belonging  to  him  ;  and  Daniel  goes 
farther  still ;  he  says,  "  to  the  Lord  our  God  belong 
mercies  and  forgiveness  ?  No ;  but  forgivenesses, 
you  may  say,  that  is  not  chaste  composition,  but  it 
is  glorious  doctrine.  Thirdly ;  there  is  another  set 
of  phrases  they  use  ;  they  speak  of  God  as  rich  in 
mercy,  'plenteous  in  mercy,  and  full  of  compassion  ; 
they  speak  of  his  abundant  mercy  ;  of  the  earth  as 
full  of  his  mercy,  to  denote  its  amplitude ;  and  in 
respect  of  its  continuance,  they  say  his  comj)assions 
fail  not,  and  there  is  a  psalm  in  which  t\tenty-six 
times  it  is  said  that  Jus  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  Oh, 
sinner  !  if  you  become  a  Christian,  and  once  get  into 
heaven,  you  will  be  kept  there,  be  assured  of  it. 
There  is  still  other  phraseology  used.     They  speak 

5 


50  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

of  God's  kindness^  his  great  kindness,  his  iiiarveU 
lous  kindness,  his  everlasting  kindness  ;  but  they 
are  not  satified  to  speak  of  it  as  simple  kindness ; 
they  call  it  merciful  kindness,  and  speak  of  it  as 
great  towards  us.  They  call  it  loving  kindness,  toOj 
and  we  read  of  God's  marvellous  and  excellent  lov- 
ing kindness,  with  which  it  is  said,  also,  that  he 
crovmeth  us  ;  here,  too,  they  use  the  plural  form, 
loving  kindnesses ;  and  they  speak  of  the  multitude 
of  his  loving  kindnesses.  What  more  could  they  say  7 
Fourthly  ;  we  find  the  mercy  of  God  compared  to 
certain  human  exercises ;  for  example,  to  a  father's 
pity,  which  it  is  said  to  be  like  ;  and  to  a  brother's 
friendship,  than  which  it  is  closer,  and  to  a  mother's 
love,  which  it  is  said  to  exceed.  Fnally,  it  is  said 
that  no  being  is  like  it.  "  Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity?"  and  in  Isaiah  Iv. 
after  the  proposition  is  made^  "  Let  the  wicked  for- 
sake his  way,"  it  is  added  "for  my  thoughts  are  not 
as  your  thoughts,"  don't  wonder  at  this  mercy ; 
don't  suppose  it  a  thing  impossible,  because  there 
is  no  parallel  to  it  among  men.  Expect  great  things 
from  God,  "  for  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the 
earth,  so  are  his  ways  higher  than  our  ways." 

But  there  is  one  mode  of  speaking  of  the  mercy  of 
God,  which  I  have  yet  to  refer  to.  It  is  that  of  the 
text.  He  delighteth  in  mercy.  It  is  very  expressive* 
There  are  some  things  we  do  by  constraint :  others 
we  do  from  a  sense  of  duty ;  others  we  delight  to  do. 
Now,  with  how  much  confidence  we  ask  a  person  to 
do  for  us,  what  we  know  he  takes  the  greatest  plea- 
sure in  doing  ;  we  feel  sure  that  he  will  do  it ;  we  do 


51 

not  ask  him  to  perform  a  painful  task,  in  order  to 
show  us  a  favor ;  we  ask  him  to  do  what  gratifies 
him  no  less  than  it  benefits  us.  He  delighteth  in  it  ;  so 
God  delighteth  in  mercy.  It  is  not  by  constraint  that 
he  shows  mercy ;  it  is  not  a  task  to  him.  It  is  a 
pleasure.  He  loves  it.  Sinner,  consider  this  ;  you 
do  God  great  injustice  when  you  suppose  mercy  is  a 
thing  reluctantly  drawn  from  him,  a  something  which 
he  exercises  unwillingly  ;  no,  he  loves  it ;  and  here 
consider  the  difference  between  showing  mercy  and 
loving meiCY'  -^"7  ^^^  ^^^  show  mercy.  It  is  but  to 
shed  a  tear,  or  put  one's  hand  in  his  pocket ;  but  to  love 
it,  is  another  thing.  Now,  God  loves  it.  This  surely 
should  inspire  confidence  in  the  sinner.  Can  you  not 
now  venture  on  him,  since  he  delights  in  mercy  ;  takes 
pleasure  in  doing  what  you  desire  him  to  do  for  you  ^ 
But,  though  his  assertion  should  suffice,  yet  I  will 
offer  some  proofs  that  God  delights  in  mercy.     And, 

1.  I  infer  it  from  the  fact  that  he  has  made  mercy 
a  part  of  our  moral  constitution  ;  has  made  pity  natu- 
ral to  us,  and  the  exercise  of  it  agreeable  to  us.  Now, 
would  he  have  done  this,  if  he  had  not  himself  de- 
lighted in  it  ? 

2.  He  has  made  it  a  part  of  our  duty,  not  merely 
to  show  mercy,  but  to  love  it ;  he  requires  us  to  de- 
light in  it.  Why?  but  because  he  delights  in  it. 
This  is  being  merciful,  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is 
merciful. 

3.  He  expresses  the  highest  displeasure  against  the 
unmerciful ;  he  says  "  they  shall  have  judgment 
without  mercy,  who  showed  no  mercy ;"  while  on 
the  other  hand,  he  says,  'i'  Blessed  are  the  merciful, 


52 


for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  All  this  goes  to  prove 
that  he  delights  in  mercy.     But, 

4.  I  infer  it  from  the  manner  in  which  God  exer- 
cises mercy  to  sinners  of  the  human  race.  This 
proves,  not  merely  that  mercy  belongs  to  him,  but 
that  he  delights  in  it.  And  here  the  particulars  that 
might  be  referred  to  for  illustration,  are  many. 

i.  He  shows  mercy  without  waiting  to  be  asked 
to  do  it.  He  does  not  wait  for  the  objects  to  present 
themselves  to  him  and  solicit  his  compassion.  He 
goes  after  them,  and  searches  them  out.  He  loves 
mercy.  We  say  of  a  man  that  seeks  out  opportuni- 
ties of  doing  good,  and  relieving  wretchedness,  he  is 
truly  benevolent,  he  delights  in  mercy  ;  while  of  ano- 
ther, that  waits  for  the  opportunity,  and  must  be  so- 
hcited  before  he  does  any  thing,  we  may  say  he  shows 
mercy,  but  we  cannot  say  he  loves  it.  Ah  !  there  is 
little  of  the  love  of  mercy  among  men.  He  has  no 
great  compassion  for  the  condition  of  the  heathen, 
that  does  nothing  for  them  unless  some  one  comes 
and  humbly  asks  him  for  a  small  donation  to  aid  in 
evangelizing  them.  He  does  not  delight  in  mercy  ; 
we  do  not  wait  to  be  asked  to  do  a  thing  we  delight 
in.  I  hope  no  one  will  be  offended  Avith  me,  if  I  ask 
how  much  good  you  would  do  in  the  course  of  a 
year,  if  you  were  not  asked  to  do  any  ;  how  many 
dollars  do  you  annually  give  unsolicited,  to  advance 
the  cause  of  Christianity  and  to  help  it  on  to  its  final 
and  triumphant  dominion  over  the  whole  earth  ? 
Ah !  is  not  your's  a  benevolence  that  stands  still ; 
how,  then,  are  you  like  him  who  loent  about  doing 
good  ;  your's,  a  mercy  that  must  be  solicited,  before 


53 

it  begins  to  act?  How,  then,  are  you  merciful  as 
God  ?  It  is  a  sad  state  of  things  that  prevails  now 
among  Christian  professors,  that  there  is  no  benevo- 
lent enterprise  that  you  can  get  them  to  take  hold  of, 
without  repeated  and  most  earnest  solicitation,  and 
even  then  many  of  them  will  not  engage  in  the  work. 
What  shall  we  say  of  such  7  The  Bible  says,  "  if 
any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of 
his."  Surely  this  is  not  the  spirit  of  Christ.  What 
then  ?  Why,  they  are  none  of  his.  Oh  !  that  there 
were  more  volunteer  benefactors  among  you  ;  more 
spontaneous  good-doing ;  more  unsolicited  contribu- 
tions to  the  great  charities.  Do  you  think  Christ 
ever  avoided  an  object  of  misery,  ever  tried,  and  was 
glad  to  escape  a  solicitation  of  charity?  I  have  said 
what  I  did  not  intend,  but  do  not  at  all  regret. 

2.  He  shows  mercy  at  great  expense  to  himself. 
He  spared  not  his  own  Son,  that  a  way  might  be 
opened  for  the  exercise  of  his  mercy. 

3.  He  lets  us  see  how  it  is  that  he  can  consistently 
exercise  mercy  towards  us  ;  discloses  to  us  the  plan 
of  salvation,  as  well  as  the  fact  of  its  possibility. 

4.  The  first  moment  that  sinners  manifest  a  wil- 
lingness to  comply  with  the  terms  on  which  he  exer- 
cises mercy,  they  are  met  by  his  mercy.  He  shows 
himself  ready  to  pardon.  He  waits  long  for  their  re- 
pentance ;  but  does  not  keep  them  waiting  for  his 
forgiveness  ;  between  their  confession  and  absolution 
he  allows  no  interval. 

5.  The  terms  of  mercy  are  brought  down  as  low 
as  they  could  be..    God  has  dispensed  with  every 

5* 


54  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

thing  he  could ;  makes  no  arbitrary  demands  upon 
us. 

6.  To  those  very  terms  his  mercy  brings  us.  He 
even  fulfills  in  us  the  conditions  of  salvation.  Surely 
he  would  not  do  this,  if  he  did  not  delight  in  mercy. 

7.  He  waiteth  to  be  gracious ;  spares  us  long,  and 
overlooks  many  provocations ;  is  long  suffering,  be- 
cause not  willing  that  any  should  perish.  "  It  is  of 
the  Lord's  mercies  that  we  are  not  consumed,  because 
his  compassions  fail  not." 

8.  He  makes  many  offers  of  mercy  to  us,  though 
we  spurn  them ;  repeats  his  proposals  of  reconciha- 
tion,  which  shows  that  he  is  desirous  we  should  come 
to  terms  with  him. 

9.  He  shows  mercy  to  many  sinners.  In  each  case 
he  pardons  a  great  multitude  of  sins.  He  shows 
mercy  to  great  sinners.  No  magnitude  or  amount 
of  sin  precludes  his  mercy. 

10.  He  shows  mercy  to  his  enemies :  and  thus 
cotnmendeth  his  love  towards  us.  But  there  are 
other  proofs  still  that  God  delighteth  in  mercy.  Would 
there  be  joy  in  heaven  when  a  sinner  repents,  if  he 
did  not?  AVonld  heaven  be  such  a  place  as  it  is? 
But  there  are  living  proofs.  You  are  one.  /am  one. 
Every  Christian  here  is  a  proof,  and  every  sinner, 
that  God  delighteth  in  mercy.  There  are  several 
hundred,  then,  in  this  house. 

And  now,  what  use  shall  we  make  of  this  doc- 
trine? Shall  we  infer  that  God  is  not  just,  not 
holy,  not  faithful,  because  he  is  merciful ;  that  he  is 
nothing  but  mercy  ;  that  all  will  be  saved  ;  that  there 
is  no  danger  in  sinning  ;  no  wrath,  no  hell ;  that  re- 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  55 

pentance  is  well  enough,  but  not  absolutely  necessary  ? 
If  any  one  is  foolish  enough  to  do  that  in  flat  con- 
tradiction of  the  very  Bible  from  which  he  learns 
that  God  is  mercy  and  so  merciful,  he  must  do  it ; 
and  if  he  will  thus  play  the  fool,  he  must  reap  the 
consequences  of  his  folly.  No ;  but  we  infer  that 
sinners,  sensible  of  their  sins,  have  the  greatest  en- 
couragement to  hope  in  God's  mercy.  If  he  were 
only  merciful,  there  would  be  hope  for  you,  how 
much  more  now  when  you  have  his  word  for  it,  and 
so  many  practical  proofs  that  he  deligtheth  in  mercy. 
Then  go  forward  with  thy  confession  and  prayer, 
"  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  Venture  on,  yea 
even  unto  him.  When  you  ask  him  to  be  merciful 
to  you,  you  ask  him  to  do  what  he  delights  in.  It  is 
a  mercy  seat  he  sits  on.  It  is  a  mercy  sceptre  he  has 
in  his  hand,  and  he  extends  it  to  thee.  Touch  it  and 
live.  Go  to  Christ,  never  for  a  moment  giving  enter- 
tainment to  the  thoughts  that  he  will  cast  you  out. 
Be  not  unbelieving;  wherefore  doubt?  Are  your 
sins  many  ?  his  mercies  are  a  match  for  them  ;  so  are 
his  mercies  many  more.  Are  your  sins  great,  sup- 
pose they  are,  his  mercy  is  great  too  ;  do  your  sins 
reach  unto  the  heavens,  what  if  they  do,  but  his 
mercy  is  great  above  the  heavens  ;  therefore  believe. 
What  use  will  you  make  of  this  doctrine  ?  Some 
use  you  will  make  of  it.1  Will  you  go  now  and  break 
the  Sabbath,  because  God  is  merciful  ?  Will  you 
practically  say,  ''what  is  the  use  of  going  to  church; 
of  praying  ;  of  poring  over  the  Bible  ;  God  is  mer- 
cifuF;  why  make  so  much  ado  about  sin;  what  if  I 
do  go  on  to  indulge  my  lusts,  God  is  merciful ;  God 


56 


is  so  good,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  be  very  good." 
This  is  a  specimen  of  the  way  in  which  tlie  doctrine 
is  used,  or  rather  abused,  by  many.  "  I  need  not  give 
up  the  world  ;  concern  myself  about  my  soul ;  make 
much  ado  about  religion ;  God  is  merciful ;  Chi'ist 
died  to  save  sinners."  Yes,  but  he  died  to  save  them 
from  their  sins.  Would  you  make  him  the  minister 
of  sin  7  Should  ye  continue  in  sin,  that  grace  may 
abound  ?  There  is  mercy,  but  there  is  wrath  too. 
This  is  the  day  of  his  mercy  ;  but  the  great  day  of 
his  wrath  will  come,  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ? 

Because  he  is  merciful,  and  has  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  wicked,  what  does  he  say  ?  "  Turn  ye 
from  your  evil  ways."  And  will  you  say,  "  for  that  very 
reason  I  will  not  turn  from  my  evil  ways  ;"  ''I  will 
not  return  to  my  father,  because  he  feels  a  father's 
pity  for  me  ?"  Oh  !  what  reasoning  !  what  conduct ! 
Are  you  not  ashamed  of  it  ?  Will  you  argue  and  act 
thus?  If  you  will,  you  shall  find  that^  though  mercy 
belongs  unto  God,  weakness  does  not ;  that  though 
he  may  be  entreated,  he  may  not  be  trifled  with.  Nor 
God  is  not  mocked ;  merciful  he  is  ;  nevertheless, 
what  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. 

What  use,  Christians,  will  you  make  of  it  ?  Wlli 
you  say,  "  since  God  cares  so  much  for  sinners,  it  is 
not  necessary  for  me  to  care  for  them.  God  is  mer- 
ciful, then  I  may  make  myself  easy.  Christ  is  inter- 
ceding, why  need  I  be  ?  What  necessity  that  1  pray, 
watch,  toil,  deny  myself,  strive  against  sin ;  God  is 
merciful.  I  have  an  interest  in  Christ,  what  need  I 
care  about  consistency  of  conduct.  What  if  I  do  live 
so  that  the  world  shall  say  that  I  am  no  better  than 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  57 

they  ;  what  if  I  do  bring  a  reproach  on  the  cause  of 
Christ?  God  is  mercifu],  and  he  can  wipe  it  off. 
The  blood  of  Christ  can  take  it  away  ;  what  if  I  do 
grieve  God's  people,  and  give  the  enemy  occasion  to 
blaspheme  ?  What  if  I  be  a  stumbling  block  to 
many,  the  grief  of  good  men,  the  jest  of  bad  ?  God  is 
merciful." 

Oh  !  remember,  he,  who  has  called  you,  is  holy  ; 
and  he  calls  you  to  be  holy,  as  he  is,  holy  in  all  nftin- 
ner  of  conversation,  and  you  must  be  so  ;  without 
holiness  you  cannot  see  the  Lord.  He  says,  "  be  not 
conformed  to  the  world  ;  come  out  from  among  them 
and  be  ye  separate  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing  ;" 
will  you  disobey  God,  because  he  is  merciful?  Will 
you  disregard  what  Christ  says  to  you,  because  he 
died  for  you  ?  Will  you  ?  Take  care  you  don't  do 
it.  If  there  be  a  single  Christian  sensibility  in  you, 
an  appeal  to  the  love  of  Christ  will  reach  it.  Beware 
of  so  relying  on  the  promises  of  God,  as  not  to  care 
for  his  laws.     Such  error  will  be  terribly  fatal. 

If  God  so  delights  in  mercy,  why  do  so  many  fail 
of  mercy  ?  One  reason  certainly  is,  that  they  are 
so  conceited.  They  do  not  feel  their  need  of  it. 
They  are  so  proud  they  will  not  bend  to  seek  it. 
They  are  unwilling  it  should  be  shown  them. 
Therefore  justice  takes  its  course  even  on  many, 
who  hear  the  Gospel.  And,  oh  !  how  dreadful  must 
be  the  wrath  of  one  who  delighteth  in  mercy,  and 
yet  finds  some  who  refuse  mercy. 

If  God  delights  in  mercy,  what  can  be  plainer 
than  that  men  should  ?  We  are  required  to  be  mer- 
ciful as  God  is  merciful,  and  to  love  mercy.     Do 


68 


you  thus  act  ?  Oh  that  we  were  more  merciful  I 
What  a  blot  on  the  Christian  name,  that  it  should 
ever  designate  the  cruel,  and  yet  it  does.  There  are 
cruel  Christians  ;  Christians  in  name.  They  are 
oppressors ;  grinders  of  the  poor  ;  traffickers  in  ar- 
dent spirits  ;  yea,  in  animal  spirits  ;  yea^  in  immor- 
tal spirits.  "  Slaves  and  the  souls  of  men,"  were  a 
part  of  the  merchandise  of  the  Apocalyptic  Babylon, 
Revelations  xviii.  13.  Let  the  cruel  and  unmerciful 
read  and  ponder  well,  2  Samuel  xxii.  26 ;  Psalms 
xxxvii.  26  ;  Matthew  v.  7  ;  and  Luke  vi.  36. 


SERMON  IV.* 


Wh6  is  a  God  like  unto  thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity  ? 
MicAH  vii,  18. 


Ah,  my  hearers,  if  you  only  believed  the  truth^  if 
you  did  but  give  credit  to  the  statements  of  the  Bible, 
if  you  even  believed  what  perhaps,  you  profess  to 
believe,  if  you  held  such  views  of  yourselves  as  the 
Bible  expresses,  and  such  as  accord  with  the  matter 
•of  fact,  and  such  as  your  Creator  entertains  of  you, 
how  deeply  interested  you  would  all  be,  in  what  I 
am  going  to  say  to-day>  How  would  you  be  all  eye, 
ear,  attention  and  interest !  God  regards  you,  and 
the  Bible  describes  you  as  sinners ;  and  so  you  are.  It  is 
seen.  Is  it  not  sometimes  felt  7  I  am  certain  it  is 
confessed.  Yes,  sinners  condemned  and  needing 
pardon  ;  for  condemnation  follows  vsin  as  a  matter  of 
x!ourse,  and  to  say  that  condemned  persons  need  par- 
don, is  almost  superfluous.  When  a  man  has  sinned, 
there  remaineth  only  the  alternative  of  pardon  or 
punishment.  He  must  receive  a  pardon,  or  suffer 
the  penalty.  This  is  a  perfectly  clear  case.  I  defy 
any  body  to  get  away  from  this  dilemma.  There- 
fore you,  as  having  sinned,  need  pardon.  You  can 
have  no  expectation  but  from  mercy,  unless  that  pre= 

*  Dr.  Nevina'  last  sermon. 


60 


rogative  is  exercised  by  the  proper  authority  in  for- 
giving you,  you  are  gone  and  lost  inevitably  and 
irrecoverably ;  you  must  suffer  the  penalty.  Your 
reason  teaches  you  this. 

Now  one  great  object  of  revelation  is  to  tell  you  that 
you  may  be  pardoned.  It  was  always  known  that 
God  had  the  power  of  pardoning.  It  could  not  be 
lodged  elsewhere.  The  legislative,  judicial  and  ex- 
ecutive authority  of  the  universe  meet  in  him.  But 
revelation  informs  us  that  God  will  and  does  exercise 
the  prerogative  of  pardon.  Nor  does  it  merely  reveal 
the  fact,  but  declares  the  ground,  the  manner,  and 
the  conditions  of  pardon ;  lohy^  how  and  when  he 
pardons.  Now,  how  a  discourse  on  this  subject  would 
interest  you,  did  you  really  believe  yourselves  con- 
demned, and  did  you  duly  appreciate  your  need  of 
pardon  ! 

But  my  object  is  not  merely  to  present  God  before 
you  as  a  pardoning  God,  but  to  show  you  what  there 
is  peculiar  and  distinguishing  in  his  exercise  of  pardon. 
''  Who  is  like  thee,  pardoning  iniquity."  There  are 
not  many  points  in  which  creatures  resemble  God,  In 
intelligence  and  in  holiness  we  bear  some  faint  re- 
semblance to  him.  But  the  attributes  and  ways  of 
creatures  are  for  the  most  part  in  contrast  to  those 
of  God.  God  is  from  everlasting ;  we  are  of  yester- 
day. His  understanding  is  infinite,  we  know  noth- 
ing. We  are  unstable  in  all  our  ways.  He  without 
variableness  or  shadow  of  turning.  But  in  nothing 
is  God  more  unlike  other  beings  than  in  pardoning. 
I  would  call  your  attention  to  an  illustration  of  this 
truth. 


61 


1.  No  being  pardons  with  such  honor  to  the  law- 
broken,  and  with  such  security  to  the  government 
offended,  as  God.  The  considerations  which  induce 
others  to  pardon  are  totally  different  from  those 
which  move  God.  It  is  not  any  thing  which  does 
honor  to  the  law.  The  government  that  pardons  is 
weakened.  Justice  is  not  satisfied.  Its  satisfaction  is 
dispensed  with ;  the  penalty  is  not  executed,  but 
remitted.  There  is  no  atonement  made.  But  God 
lays  a  foundation  for  pardon  which  involves  the 
exaction  of  the  penalty,  and  the  full  satisfaction  of 
justice.  He  magnifies  the  law  whose  violation  he 
forgives ;  and  honors  the  government,  while  he 
spares  the  rebel  against  its  authority.  He  is  as 
just  in  showing  mercy,  as  in  exacting  righteous- 
ness. Our  iniquities,  in  being  taken  off  of  us,  are 
laid  on  Christ.  They  are  none  the  less  borne, 
though  not  borne  by  us.  We  are  not  made  a 
curse,  but  he  was  made  a  curse  for  us.  We  are 
healed,  but  it  is  by  stripes  inflicted  on  him.  The 
Christian  mind  delights  to  dwell  on  this  theme. 
Nothing  inspires  the  mind  with  such  confidence  as 
this.  It  is  this  chiefly  which  gives  us  boldness  in 
approaching  the  throne  of  grace  to  obtain  mercy.  If 
we  had  to  reflect  that  justice  is  not  satisfied,  while 
mercy  is  exercised,  and  that  God's  character  and 
government  suffer  in  our  being  saved,  we  could  feel 
no  such  confidence.  But  now  we  have  not  only 
mercy  to  appeal  to,  but  merit,  the  merit  of  Christ  to 
plead.  We  bring  a  righteousness,  though  not  our 
own,  yet  all  the  better  for  not  being  our  own.  If 
God  would  not  accept  us,  yet  he  will  not  fail  to  ac- 

6 


62  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

cept  Christ  for  us,  especially  when  it  is  his  own  plan 
and  proposition. 

2.  No  one  pardons  at  such  an  expense  to  himself 
as  God  does.  With  others  it  is  but  saying  the  word, 
or  signing  the  name,  and  the  person  is  pardoned. 
And  the  reason  of  this  facility  is  that  no  attempt  is 
made  to  reconcile  the  exercise  of  pardon  with  the 
claims  of  law  and  justice.  If  any  satisfaction  is  re- 
quired, it  is  not  made  by  the  power  that  pardons. 
It  must  be  made  by  the  person  needing  the  pardon. 
But  God  while  he  requires  satisfaction,  sees  to  the 
making  of  it.  He  takes  the  whole  business  of  atone- 
ment into  his  own  hands.  He  takes  the  pains.  He 
bears  the  expense.  The  problem  to  reconcile  the 
claim  of  justice  with  the  exercise  of  mercy  he  under- 
takes to  solve  ;  and  he  does  it.  The  idea  of  pardon- 
ing orignated  with  him.  The  preliminaries  of  par- 
don were  accomplished  by  him.  Nothing  was  left  to 
the  sinner.  Nothing  now  remains  to  him  but  grate- 
fully and  cordially  to  accept  the  pardon.  "  God 
spared  not  his  own  son."  Suppose  we  had  been  as- 
sembled and  it  had  been  announced  to  us  that  we 
could  only  be  pardoned  on  condition  of  God's  send- 
ing his  own  dear  Son  into  the  world  to  be  insulted 
and  despised,  and  to  die  ignominiously  on  the  cross. 
We  should  have  had  no  hope.  We  would  have  said 
''  He  will  never  do  that."  But  he  did  it.  Who  is 
like  him  ? 

3.  No  one  pardons  with  such  a  good  effect  on  the 
sinner  pardoned.  Men  can  pardon,  but  they  cannot 
do  it  in  a  way  to  reform  the  criminal,  and  to  secure 
his  future  obedience  ;  and  therefore  they  have  often 


NEVINS     SERMONS.  63 

to  regret  that  in  particular  cases  they  did  not  let  jus- 
tice take  its  course.  They  are  not  unfrequently 
sadly  disappointed  in  those  they  pardon.  But  God 
was  never  disappointed  in  a  sinner  he  pardoned. 
Every  one  he  pardons  becomes  his  servant,  and 
though  subject  to  many  imperfections  and  fluctua- 
tions, perseveres  in  his  service  to  the  end.  When- 
ever he  remits  sins,  he  reforms  the  sinner.  This  re- 
sult he  secures  in  part  by  motives.  There  is  much 
in  the  fact,  and  more  in  the  manner  of  our  being 
pardoned  to  bring  us  to  repentance.  There  is  a 
softening  and  melting  influence  in  the  cross,  as  well 
as  a  saving  one.  It  is  hard  to  go  on  sinning  against 
such  love  and  pity  ;  to  continue  in  a  course  which 
rendered  such  sorrows  necessary.  But  chiefly  he 
secures  this  result  by  his  spirit,  by  whose  influence 
the  heart  of  the  pardoned  sinner  is  renewed  and 
sanctified.  It  is  a  part  of  God's  compassion  to  subdue 
our  iniquities,  as  it  is  said  in  the  next  verse.  We 
see  then  how  it  is  that  he  has  never  to  regret  an 
exercise  of  pardon  and  that  he  never  loses  a  soul, 
whose  sins  he  has  forgiven. 

4.  No  one  pardons  so  many  as  God.  The  prerog- 
ative of  mercy  among  men  is  exercised  generally 
with  respect  to  a  few.  A  selection  is  made  out  of  a 
number  of  criminals,  generally  on  the  principle  of 
inferior  guilt  or  circumstances  of  mitigation  in  their 
cases,  and  not  even  the  ofler  of  pardon  is  made  to  the 
others.  The  reason  is  obvious ;  justice  must  have 
its  satisfaction,  if  not  of  all,  yet  of  some.  No  human 
government  ever  proposed  to  pardon  all  its  oflenders. 
But  God's  proclamation  runs,  "  Whosoever  will,  let 


64 


him  come  and  take  of  the  waters  of  Hfe  freely/' 
He  offers  a  universal  pardon.  He  excepts  no  one. 
Those  who  are  not  pardoned  except  themselves. 
And  many,  many  are  actually  pardoned  ;  what  pro- 
portion will  be  finally,  I  do  not  know,  and  never 
thought  calculations  on  that  subject  productive  of 
any  good.  But  there  is  an  immense  multitude  in 
heaven  already  ;  and  a  great  company  on  their  way 
thither ;  and  the  reason  that  there  is  yet  room  both 
there  and  here,  is  that  the  accommodations  are  mag- 
nificently ample. 

6.  But  not  only  does  God  pardon  many  sinners, 
but  he  pardons  each  many  sins.  A  second  offence 
is  not  often  pardoned  among  men,  much  more  a 
third  or  fourth.  Men  soon  get  weary  of  the  exercise 
of  mercy.  But  God  pardons  numberless  offences  j 
allj  as  many  as  they  maybe,  and  they  are  very  many, 
as  any  one  may  easily  calculate ;  "  more  than  the  hairs 
of  mine  head,"  David  says  his  iniquities  were.  He 
speaks  of  one  of  a  thousand.  He  seems  to  have  di- 
vided them  into  thousands.  There  are  a  great  many 
kinds  and  classes  of  sins,  to  say  nothing  of  the  indi- 
vidual sins  under  these  classes.  Oh  !  how  many  sins 
and  kinds  of  sin  God  has  pardoned  some  of  us.  How 
many  we  can  remember,  and  how  many  more  he 
has  pardoned  than  we  can  remember  !  How  it  would 
astound  us,  could  they  be  set  in  order  before  us,  as 
they  are  in  the  light  of  his  countenance  !  Well  is  it 
said  that  he  ahimdantly  pardons  ! 

But  he  not  only  pardons  many  sins,  but  the  same 
sin  many  times.  How  often  we  have  repeated  some 
sins  !  and  yet  as  often  he  has  pardoned.     Men  deem 


65 

it  derogatory  to  their  self  respect  to  forgive  the  same 
oiFence  often.  But  God  appears  not  to  be  influenced 
by  that  consideration.  Peter  came  once  to  our  Lord 
with  this  question,  ''  Lord,  how  oft  shall  my  brother 
sin  against  me  and  I  forgive  him  ?  until  seven  times  ?" 
He  thought  he  proposed  a  large  number.  But  Christ 
replied,  ''  I  say  not  unto  thee,  until  seven  times  ;  but 
until  seventy  times  seven."  So  often  are  we  to  for- 
give, four  hundred  and  ninety  times,  that  is,  for  so, 
doubtless,  it  was  intended,  as  often  as  he  sins  ;  and  in 
another  place  we  are  directed  to  forgive  seven  times 
in  the  compass  of  a  day.  Now  does  God  direct  us  to 
out  do  him  in  pardoning  ?  May  it  not  be  inferred 
that  he  pardons  at  least  as  often  ?  Yea  more  !  for 
who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee  ? 

6.  Something  ought  to  be  said  of  the  peculiar  cha- 
racter of  the  sins  which  God  pardons.  He  does  not 
merely  pardon  our  sins  among  ourselves ;  but  our 
sins  immediately  against  him  ;  our  impieties ;  our 
sins  against  his  Spirit  and  his  Son.  He  pardons, 
what  who  ever  did  ?  the  very  sin  of  rejecting  the 
terms  of  pardon ;  pardons  after  the  offer  of  pardon 
has  been  many  times  despised.  How  much  unbelief 
he  has  pardoned  in  all  who  are  now  his  people  ! 

7.  He  forgets  as  well  as  forgives.  Men  remem- 
ber the  sins  they  pardon.  But  God  remembers  our 
sins  no  more.  It  is  with  him  as  if  it  had  never  been 
committed.  None  so  effectually  puts  out  of  the  way 
the  sins  he  forgives.  "  Thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins 
into  the  depths  of  the  sea."  There  shall  be  no  find- 
ing them  any  more.  He  pardons  without  upbraiding^ 
which  parents  and  others,  we  know,  do  not  always. 

6* 


66  NEVINS'    SERMONS^. 

8.  God  makes  provision  for  the  pardon  of  future 
sins.  It  is  as  certain  that  your  future  sins  will  be 
forgiven,  as  that  your  past  sins  have  been.  God 
never  condemns  after  pardoning.  When  he  begins 
to  pardon,  he  goes  on. 

8.  God  more  than  pardons.  He  justifies,  which^ 
besides  pardon,  includes  gracious  adjudication  to 
eternal  life ;  and  he  subdues  our  iniquities.  He 
adopts  us  and  sanctifies  us,  and,  ultimately,  glori- 
fies every  pardoned  sinner.     Who  is  like  him  ? 

10.  God  pardons  on  the  most  reasonable  condi- 
tions. They  are  such  that,  without  them,  the  par- 
don could  not  be  used  by  us.  To  dispense  with 
them,  would  defeat  the  very  design  of  the  pardon. 
No  pardoned  sinner  would  have  them  dispensed 
with.  He  acquiesces  in  them  equally  as  in  the  par- 
don itself.  The  conditions  are  privileges.  What 
are  they?  To  repent,  to  believe  in  Christ,  to  ap- 
prove of  the  plan  of  salvation,  and  what  makes  an- 
gels happy,  to  love  and  serve  God.  Do  you  not  pro- 
nounce them  reasonable  ? 

11.  There  is  one  thing  more.  These  very  con- 
ditions of  pardon,  God  fulfils  in  us.  He  gives  us  re- 
pentance ;  and  our  faith  is  the  gift  of  God.  If  a  per- 
son says,  "  I  will  forgive  you,  provided  you  do  such 
and  such  reasonable  things,"  we  think  that  enough. 
But  God  even  inclines  and  enables  us  to  do  these 
things.     "  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee  ?" 

And  now  in  making  use  of  this  subject,  the  first 
thing  I  have  to  say,  is, 

1.  How  glorious  a  subject  we  have  here  !  If  God's 
ways  in  pardoning  were  like  ours,  what  hope  could 


67 

there  be  for  us  ?  If  we  stood  related  to  any  other 
government,  however  clement,  as  we  do  to  that  of 
God,  our  case  would  be  desperate.  Under  such 
circumstances,  we  could  not  expect  any  civil  power, 
or  even  a  father  to  forgive. 

2.  How  worthy  of  our  supreme  attachment  and 
love  is  the  God  who  not  only  pardons,  but  so  par- 
dons, so  abundantly. 

3.  Does  any  sinner  here  desire  pardon  ?  We  may 
learn  hence  the  encouragement  he  has  to  seek  it,  and 
the  probability  of  his  obtaining  it.  He  can  have  it. 
There  is  no  difficulty  unless  he  chooses  to  make  one. 
He  can  have  it  without  any  injury  to  justice.  Why 
should  not  God  pardon  you?  Because  he  would 
honor  his  law  and  justice  by  punishing  you  ?  But 
that  he  had  done  already.  There  is  nothing  in 
heaven  in  the  way  of  your  being  pardoned,  nor 
under  it,  unless  you  will  put  yourself  in  the  way. 
If  you  will  submit  to  the  terms,  or  even  seek  them, 
you  will  succeed.  Surely  Ave  ought  to  submit  to 
God  in  the  prescription  of  the  terms  of  salvation,  as 
in  the  dispensations  of  his  providence. 

4.  We  see  from  this  subject  how  unnecessary  it 
is  that  any  should  be  lost.  Justice  does  not  require 
it,  nor  truth.  There  is  nothing  rendering  it  neces- 
sary.    There  is  no  limit  to  the  power  of  God  to 

pardon. 

5.  How  very  dreadful  it  will  be  to  be  lost  under 
such  circumstances  ;  lost  when  pardon  was  tendered 
and  salvation  offered  ;  lost  by  one's  own  obstinacy. 
What  an  effect  it  will  have,  when,  on  the  day  of 
judgment,  it  shall  be  made  known  to  the  universe, 


68  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

that  all  the  sinners  in  Christendom  had  the  free  offer 
of  pardon  made  them,  and  that  those  who  perish, 
perish  because  they  rejected  it.  What  a  hallelujah 
of  praise  to  God  will  follow  that  disclosure,  in  which 
even  the  consciences  of  those  who  are  about  to  be 
cast  away,  though  not  their  hearts,  will  unite. 

6.  It  appears  from  this  subject,  that  religion  is  not 
so  very  gloomy  a  thing  as  is  sometimes  supposed. 
No  ;  but  irreligion  is  a  very  gloomy  condition.  To 
be  in  a  dungeon,  as  it  were,  under  sentence  of  death, 
unpardoned,  is  gloomy.  But  to  be  released,  and  to 
breathe  the  air  of  liberty,  and  to  have  the  freedom  of 
the  universe,  and  the  privilege  of  calling  God,  Fa- 
ther, I  should  say,  was  rather  cheerful. 

If  a  man  is  condemned,  nothing  can  require  his 
attention  more  immediately  than  to  secure  a  pardon. 
The  idea  of  a  man,  under  sentence  of  death,  putting 
off  efforts  to  obtain  a  pardon,  is  preposterous.  What 
should  he  not  rather  put  off?  This  is  not  only 
first,  but  every  thing  in  his  case.  Suppose  a  person, 
when  in  prison  under  sentence  of  death,  when 
urged  to  apply  for  a  pardon,  should  say,  "  Oh,  I  am 
young  yet.  Don't  press  me  on  that  subject."  What 
has  his  youth  to  do  with  it?  Cannot  he  die  young? 
or,  "  I  am  strong  and  hearty;  don't  trouble  me  about 
pardon."  You  would  take  him  for  a  mad  man ;  or, 
"  I  have  something  else  which  I  must  do  first  f  the 
idea  of  such  a  man's  putting  any  thing  before  pardon  ! 
or,  "I  cannot  give  up  this  prison ;  I  am  so  attached 
to  it ;"  or,  "  I'll  plead  for  pardon  when  I  am  on  the 
scaffold  ;  or,  "  I  don't  like  the  terms,"  as  if  they  could 
be  as  bad  as  death.    Sinners  are  doing  the  like  of  all 


69 


this.  They  are  young ;  they  are  strong ;  have 
something  else  to  do ;  or  they  are  attached  to  the 
world ;  or  they  don't  like  the  terms.  Well,  then 
they  must  put  up  with  the  other  part  of  the  alterna- 
tive, punishment.  How  will  they  like  that  ?  They 
cannot  decline  pardon  and  punishment  both.  The 
latter  will  come.  God  will  pardon,  but  he  will  by 
no  means  clear  the  guilty.  I  would  like  to  ask  you 
why  you  suppose  God,  in  proclaiming  his  name,  (Ex. 
xxxiv.  6,  7,)  after  declaring  himself  merciful  and  gra- 
cious, long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  and  forgiving  ini- 
quity, transgression  and  sin,  concluded  the  account 
with,  "and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty?" 
Did  he  not  intend  to  put  the  reader  on  his  guard  ? 
It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  "  I  am  well  disposed  to  pardon, 
but  do  not  infer  thence  impunity  in  impenitence." 
Pardon  or  punishment  is  the  alternative  presented 
to  day.     Choose  ye, 


SERMON  V. 


Behold,  therefore,  the  goodness  andseverity  of  God.-RoMANS  xi.  22, 

If  there  is  no  man  of  us  who  chooses  to  deny  that 
he  is  a  subject  of  the  great  government  of  God,  there 
is  no  man  of  us  but  will  admit  that  it  is  of  the  very 
last  importance  that  we  should  know  so  much  of  the 
character  of  God  and  of  the  principles  of  his  moral 
government,  as  will  enable  us  to  infer  in  what  man- 
ner he  will  deal  with  such  creatures  as  we  are  ; 
when  we  may  calculate  on  his  favor,  if  favor  he 
will  show,  and  under  what  circumstances  we  have 
every  reason  to  fear  his  displeasure,  if  displeasure 
he  ever  feels.  We  are  all  passing  rapidly  through 
this  twilight  state  of  existence ;  before  us  hangs  a 
cloud  black  and  heavy,  and  impenetrable  to  the 
keenest  vision  of  the  mind,  beyond  whose  shadows 
we  all  expect  to  come  into  a  nearer  communion 
with  our  Maker,  and  the  spirit  disembodied  and  dis- 
enthralled will  have  to  do  immediately  with  the  great 
Father  of  Spirits.  Yes,  it  is  the  belief  of  every  reli- 
gion, and  it  is  the  sentiment  of  every  heart,  that  be- 
yond that  cloud,  and  in  the  vestibule  of  eternity,  is 
the  judgment  seat  and  the  revealed  presence  of  our 
God. 

Now,  all  men  and  all  nations  ascribe  to  the  Su- 

« 


71 

preme  Being  infinite  perfection.  It  is  abhorrent  to 
our  nature  to  suppose  that  any  thing  imperfect  can 
enter  into  his  character  or  government,  and  we,  there- 
fore, confidently  conclude  that  the  principles  accord- 
ing to  which  he  will  deal  with  us,  are  most  just  and 
right,  and  that  whatever  becomes  of  us  and  of  our 
fellow  creatures,  he  will  be  clear  from  every  imputa- 
tion, and  we  shall  not  have  one  word  to  say  in  an- 
swer. But  this  does  by  no  means  satisfy  the  mind. 
It  is  only  innocence  that  findeth  refuge  in  that  con- 
clusion ;  it  is  no  resting  place  for  guilt.  We  want 
to  know  farther  in  what  manner  his  infinite  perfec- 
tion will  induce  him  to  act,  that  we  may  know  whether 
with  fear  or  with  hope  we  ought  to  look  forward  to 
our  meeting  with  him,  and  how  we  shall  go  about  to 
prepare  ourselves  for  appearing  before  him.  We 
know  that  God  in  dealing  with  us  and  disposing  of 
us  will  do  right,  but  in  doing  right  how  will  he  deal 
with  us  and  dispose  of  us,  that  is  the  remaining  ques- 
tion, and  the  only  one  in  which  difficulty  is  involved, 
and  by  which  anxiety  is  created.  By  what  means 
are  we  to  arrive  at  the  solution  of  it  ?  by  following 
the  lights  and  leadings  of  our  own  minds  ?  Can  we 
reach  it  by  our  reasonings  ?  There  are  many 
that  think  to  do  so  ;  but  that  they  attempt  an  impos- 
sibility is  evident  from  this,  that  men  who  follow  the 
leadings  of  the  mind  are  found  to  arrive  at  different 
and  even  opposite  results,  which  evinces  that  the 
mind  has  undertaken  to  teach  when  she  needs  her- 
self to  be  first  taught,  and  that  the  intellect  has  es- 
sayed to  apprehend  that  of  which  it  needs  to  be  ap- 
prehended by  God.     Nor  is  this  mode  of  coming  to 


72  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

the  knowledge  of  the  character  and  go"vernment  of 
God  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  modern  philosophy,  a  philosophy  which  deserves 
to  preside  over  and  direct  our  investigations  in  theo- 
logy, no  less  than  to  guide  us  in  our  pursuit  of  the 
physical  sciences.  That  tells  us  that  there  is  but  one 
way  in  which  the  human  mind  obtains  any  certain 
knowledge  of  the  nature  and  attributes  of  any  being 
or  substance  ;  and  that  is  by  observation  of  facts  and 
phenomena.  It  is  not  by  any  course  of  reasoning, 
however  profound  or  ingenious,  that  we  can  acquire 
the  slightest  knowledge  of  the  qualities  and  powers 
either  of  mind  or  matter ;  it  is  not  by  reasoning  that 
^  any  advancement  has  ever  been  made  in  the  sciences 
which  relate  to  them,  but  only  by  observation,  by  a 
careful  studying  of  nature  as  it  is,  and  by  giving  heed 
to  the  changes  that  are  ever  going  on  in  the  material 
world  around  us,  and  the  phenomena  that  are  ever 
exhibiting  themselves  in  the  spiritual  microcosm 
within  us.  We  know  not  how  it  will  be  hereafter, 
but  for  the  present  this  is  the  only  way  to  truth,  and 
we  must  not  think  to  pursue  theology  by  any  other 
path.  It  has  been  sought  after  in  a  far  different  man- 
ner. Men  have  reasoned  when  they  should  have 
read  and  observed,  and  the  result  has  been,  that  upon  no 
subject  whatsoever  has  there  existed  such  a  diversity 
of  opinion  among  them,  as  upon  theology.  For  their 
knowledge  of  God,  instead  of  taking  up  with  what 
he  hath  declared  of  himself,  and  what  his  works  and 
ways  declare  of  him,  they  have  entered  into  the  dark 
chambers  of  the  mind,  and  they  have  descended  even 
to  the  kennel  of  the  heart ;  and  the  testimony  which 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  73; 

God  gives  of  himself,  and  which  his  providence  gives 
to  him,  has  been  set  aside,  because  this  two-fold  de- 
claration of  what  God  is,  agrees  not  with  their  opin- 
ions of  what  God  ought  to  be  ;  and  in  spite  of  the 
absurdity  and  impiety  of  supposing  that  the  God  who 
is  in  heaven  must  answer  to  every  idea  of  him  in  a 
sinner's  sinful  fancy,  the  divine  testimony  has  in  ten 
thousand  cases  been  rejected,  and  men  have  clung  to 
their  own  unsupported  opinions,  obstinately  living 
in  them,  and  sternly  dying  in  them  ;  and  never  un- 
deceived until  it  was  far  too  late,  and  they  have  dis- 
covered that  the  foundation  on  which  the  hope  of  the 
soul  was  raised  was  sand,  only  when  it  was  too  late 
to  effect  a  substitution.  Oh  !  I  wish  I  could  expel 
from  your  souls  this  most  ruinous  delusion,  that  God 
is,  of  course,  just  such  a  being  as  you  conceive  him 
to  be,  and  that  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  dreaded 
from  him  than  your  own  prejudiced  self-love  sug- 
gests ;  and  that  his  opinion  of  what  is  right  must  needs 
coincide  with  your  own  opinion  of  what  is  right. 
I  am  making  this  introduction  long,  but  suffer  me  to 
state  a  case  that  is  in  point.  If  you  were  anxious  to 
know  the  character  and  principles  of  any  human  go- 
vernment, with  a  view  to  ascertain  what  the  subjects 
of  it  might  expect  when  their  actions  should  be  scan- 
ned, what  course  would  you  pursue  ?  Would  it  not 
be  the  most  absurd  thing  imaginable  to  set  about  de- 
monstrating it  ?  Does  not  common  sense  dictate  that 
you  should  repair  first  to  the  book  containing  its  con- 
stitution and  statutes ;  and  if  the  character  of  the 
ruler  was  identified  with  the  principles  of  his  govern- 
ment, as  is  the  case  in  the  government  of  God,  but 

7 


A 


74  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

not  in  any  human  government  unless  it  be  purely 
despotic,  that  you  should  then  study  out  his  charac- 
ter, and  finally,  that  you  should  peruse  the  history  of 
that  government,  to  see  if  its  decisions  and  doings 
accorded  with  the  principles  laid  down  in  its  consti- 
tution. If  you  should  find  an  agreement  between 
them,  you  would  be  satisfied  ;  and  no  preconceived 
opinions  of  your  own  would  be  suffered  to  shake  your 
confidence  in  the  result  to  which  you  had  thus  ar- 
rived. Now  this  is  just  the  manner,  and  the  only 
manner,  in  which  you  must  learn  the  principles  of 
the  divine  government,  and  what  you,  as  subjects, 
will  have  reason  to  expect  when  your  actions  shall 
come  to  be  scanned.  This  is  the  book  of  the  consti- 
tution and  statutes  of  the  divine  government,  and  the 
character  of  the  great  governor  with  which  it  is  iden- 
tified is  here  revealed  ;  and  this  contains  also  a  por- 
tion of  the  history  of  God's  government,  and  all  faith- 
ful history  is  but  a  history  of  it.  Pursuing  this  plan  of 
study  that  I  have  sketched,  the  result  will  be  the 
truth,  and  by  no  other  method  can  you  arrive  at  it. 
What  the  result  will  be,  and  the  truth  is,  I  shall  now 
tell  you.  Hear  the  proposition  which  it  shall  be  my 
object  to  establish  ;  that  the  government  of  God,  un- 
der which  we  live,  whether  we  regard  the  character 
of  its  head,  the  principles  of  its  constitution,  or  the 
history  of  its  administration,  is  characterized  by  two 
leading  attributes,  which,  though  perfectly  consistent 
with  each  other,  are  in  appearance,  and  in  their  ef- 
fects, opposite  the  one  to  the  other  ;  call  them  grace 
and  justice,  the  utmost  mildness,  and  the  extremest 
rigor,  they  are  here  denominated  goodness  and  seve- 


75 

rity  ;  and  we  are  asked  to  behold  an  example  of  the 
severity  and  goodness  of  God,  in  the  excision  of  the 
Jewish  nation  from  the  church  of  God,  and  in  the 
receiving  of  the  Gentiles  into  it,  the  one  an  act  of  the 
sternest  severity,  the  other  of  the  highest  benignity 
Here  is  one  case  in  illustration  of  my  position,  but  it 
is  only  one  of  many,  and  I  shall  mention  it  in  its  pro- 
per place.  The  reason  that  I  have  selected  this  sub- 
ject for  our  meditation  at  this  time  is,  because  very 
many  of  mankind,  and  perhaps  many  of  you  are  think- 
ing and  acting  as  if  there  was  nothing  but  mercy  and 
forgiveness  to  be  expected  from  God,  and  as  if  in  no 
case  he  puts  on  the  sterner  and  severer  attributes  of 
his  character,  and  taketh  vengeance  while  he  showeth 
favor.  Now,  if  they  and  you  are  right  in  your  views 
of  God  and  are  not  to  be  disappointed  of  your  expec- 
tations, I  shall  be  content ;  but  if  you  cherish  a  most 
dangerous  delusion  in  thus  thinking  and  expecting, 
woe  is  me  if  I  do  not  take  measures  to  undeceive  the 
souls  of  which  I  have  the  charge,  lest  any  of  you  per- 
chance dying  in  the  error,  should  be  ruined  by  it, 
and  you  meeting  me  in  eternity  should  upbraid  me 
that  I  did  not  undeceive  you  in  time  ;  not  telling  you 
as  plainly  as  I  should  have  done,  that  God  punishes 
sin,  as  well  as  forgives  it,  and  executes  wrath  while 
he  shows  mercy,  and  that  faith,  and  repentance  and 
obedience  have  not  more  to  hope  from  God,  than 
unbelief  and  impenitence  and  disobedience  have  to 
fear  ffom  the  same.  Men  are  willing  enough  to  be- 
lieve that  God  will  perform  all  his  promises  of  good, 
but  there  has  been  ever  since  the  world  stood  a  dis- 
position among  them  to  believe  that  he  will  not  fulfill 


X 


76  NEVINS'    SERMONS.  ^ 

his  threatenings,  and  we  would  take  the  part  of  reve- 
lation and  providence,  and  most  strenuously  combat 
it. 

Let  me  pursue  the  method  that  I  have  conceived 
for  myself  The  character  of  God,  I  repeat,  is  iden- 
tified with  his  government ;  his  law  is  the  transcript 
of  his  attributes,  the  pure  emanation  of  his  nature. 
Now,  what  account  does  revelation  give  us  of  the 
character  of  God,  but  one  in  perfect  harmony  with 
my  position.  Hear  what  himself  said,  when  once  up- 
on the  awful  top  of  Sinai,  he  had  an  interview  with 
the  man  he  had  chosen,  "  he  passed  by  and  proclaim- 
ed the  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious, 
long  suffering  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth, 
keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity, 
transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means 
clear  the  guilty."  And  again,  by  a  prophet,  he 
says,  "  God  is  jealous,  and  the  Lord  revengeth  ; 
the  Lord  will  take  vengeance  on  his  adversaries, 
and  he  reserveth  his  wrath  for  his  enemies ;  the 
Lord  is  slow  to  anger  and  great  in  power,  and 
will  not  at  all  acquit  the  wicked  ;  the  Lord  is  good, 
a  strong-hold  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  he  knoweth 
them  that  trust  in  him ;  but  with  an  overrunning 
flood  he  will  make  an  utter  end  of  the  place  thereof, 
and  darkness  shall  pursue  his  enemies."  I  give  you 
these  two  specimens,  the  first  that  occurred  to  me,  of 
a  mode  of  speaking  which  runs  throughout  both  the 
Testaments.  If  you  have  ever  read  the  Scriptures 
you  must  remember  that  the  representations  therein 
given  of  his  justice  are  as  many  and  as  strong  as  those 
made  of  his  mercy  ;  and  that  he  is  set  up  before  us 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  1(7 

as  a  God  of  wrath,  equally  as  a  God  of  grace  ;  as 
determined  in  certain  cases  to  punish,  as  in  others 
prone  to  forgive ;  as  enveloped  in  a  terror  that  ap- 
pals, as  well  as  clothed  around  with  a  benignity  that 
attracts. 

The  study  of  the  character  of  God  out  of  the  Bi- 
ble leads  to  the  same  conclusion.  "  The  wrath  of 
God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodli- 
ness and  unrighteousness  of  men,  who  hold  the  truth 
in  unrighteousness."  St.  Paul  says  this  when  speak- 
ing of  those  who  had  not  the  written  revelation. 
Natural  religion  has  always  been  a  system  of  terror, 
in  which  justice  and  vengeance  have  ever  had  the 
greatest  prominence.  The  impression,  which  the 
character  of  God  has  made  upon  the  pagan  mind 
has  been  uniformly  awful ;  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
know  how  they,  who,  in  defiance  of  the  Scriptures, 
afiirm  that  God  is  only  good  and  merciful,  can  ex- 
plain it  that  as  many  as  have  studied  the  volume  of 
nature  only,  have  been  so  egregiously  and  univer- 
sally mistaken.  And  why  does  this  that  is  within 
us,  which  he,  who  made  us,  planted  there,  and  to 
which  he  gave  a  voice,  why  does  it  threaten  us 
when  we  offend,  and  torment  us  with  the  remem- 
brance of  sins  that  have  never  been  known  or  felt 
beyond  the  privacy  of  the  heart,  and  tell  us  plainly, 
as  if  it  could  articulate,  that  there  is  a  God  who 
taketh  vengeance  and  punishes  iniquity?  Does  it 
tell  a  lie,  or  is  it  so  ?  Look  now  at  the  constitution 
of  the  divine  government  over  man.  See  it  in  the 
garden  of  Eden.  How  munificent  was  God  in  his'^ 
goodness  to  our  first  parents  ;  how  lavish  of  favor  \ 

7* 


78 


and  it  was  a  mild  sceptre  that  he  swayed  over  them. 
It  was  but  one  thing  he  denied  them ;  but  if  they 
trespassed  upon  that,  what  then  ?  "  In  the  day  thou 
eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die."  They  ate  ; 
they  died.    Was  it  an  idle  threat  to  terrify  ? 

Hear  it  declared  from  the  mountain  that  burned  with 
fire  ;  the  law  in  ten  commands ;  the  promise  unto  obe- 
dience, "  Do  this  and  thou  shalt  live."  Was  that  all  ? 
Whatis  that  that  I  hear  in  addition,  ''but  the  soul  that 
sinneth  it  shall  die."  Hear  itfromZion,  which  no  black 
ness  envelopes,  which  no  thunders  shake,  where  Jesus 
sits  in  human  form,  and  proclaims  his  Gospel  to  man- 
kind, and  bids  the  laboring  come,  and  drives  despair 
from  its  fearful  rest  in  the  heart,  and  begets  hope 
with  his  gracious  declaration,  "  He  that  believeth 
shall  be  saved."  Is  that  all  ?  Is  there  nothing  to 
fear  ?  "  But  he  that  believeth  not,"  it  is  added,  "shall 
be  damned."  In  other  words,  an  apostle  of  Jesus 
has  expressed  the  same  sentiment,  "  To  them  who, 
by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing,  seek  for 
glory  and  honor  and  immortality,  he  will  render 
eternal  life  ;  but  unto  them  that  are  contentious,  and 
do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness,  in- 
dignation and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish,  upon 
every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil."  This  is  said  under 
the  Gospel ;  and  hath  unbelief,  then,  and  impeni- 
tence, and  disobedience  nought  to  fear  ?  Shall  un- 
godliness come  off  unpunished  ?  Hear  the  same 
once  more  speaking  of  Christ's  second  coming  and 
the  judgment,  "  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed 
from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and 


79 

that  obey  not  the  Gospel,  who  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  and  the  glory  of  his  power,  when  he  shall 
come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired 
in  all  them  that  believe."  Behold  in  all  this  at  once 
the  goodness  and  the  severity  of  God.  Or  will  you 
only  behold  the  goodness,  and  shut  your  eyes  upon 
the  severity,  believing  all  that  God  promises,  but 
disbelieving  all  he  threatens  ?  That  were  to  be 
worse  than  an  infidel  who  believes  neither. 

But  we  have  yet  to  consult  the  history  of  the  di- 
vine government  for  its  testimony  ;  and  we  shall  do 
it  with  all  possible  brevity.  The  first  case  in  point 
concerns  another  order  of  creatures  and  is  more  an- 
cient than  man  and  this  world;  but  it  belongs  to  the 
same  unchanged  and  unchangeable  government,  and 
by  no  less  than  two  inspired  writers,  is  it  referred  to 
for  illustration  and  enforcement  of  that  which  con- 
cerns men. 

There  was  a  period  when  all  were  happy  and  every 
where  was  heaven  ;  the  benignity  of  God  was  beheld 
in  every  work,  and  felt  through  every  heart ;  but  the 
choir  of  heaven  broke  harmony ;  and  God  endured 
it  not  a  moment  but  cast  the  rebels  down  to  hell. 

I  have  remarked  upon  the  case  of  Adam,  how  he  was 
blessed,  how  he  sinned  and  death  followed  close  upon 
sin,  and  has  been  transmitted  to  all  the  generations 
of  his  posterity. 

The  world  as  it  became  populous  became  insuf- 
ferably wicked.  God  was  good  or  he  had  not 
waited  so  long  with  them ;  but  that  goodness  con- 
sisted with  sterner  attributes;  and  he  determined  to 


80  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

destroy  his  work.  Yet  after  that  determination  he 
waited  longer  than  any  man  now  hves  and  sent 
to  that  devoted  people  preachers  of  repentance  and 
righteousness  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  his  own  Son. 
"  Behold  his  goodness."  But  he  waited  in  vain, 
the  years  were  accomplished,  the  deluge  came, 
the  earth  was  unpeopled,  and  the  sea  hath  now  the 
innumerable  bodies,  ready  to  give  them  up  when  to 
all  the  depths  of  earth  and  ocean  the  redeeming  voice 
of  the  second  Adam  shall  call.  "  Behold  his  se- 
verity." 

It  was  reported  in  heaven  that  five  populous 
cities  had  abandoned  themselves  to  outrageous  and 
unnatural  wickedness,  and  God  went  down  to  see  ; 
he  found  it  so,  and  was  on  his  way  to  destroy  them, , 
but  one  good  man  arrested  him  in  his  progress,  and 
long  and  kindly  did  God  listen  to  his  intercession, 
and  if  but  ten  righteous  persons  could  be  found  in  all 
those  cities,  he  said  he  would  go  back  and  would  not 
destroy  ;  "  behold  his  goodness."  Even  ten  could 
not  be  found,  and  Sodom  and  her  sister  cities  have 
been  set  forth  an  example  to  all  ages,  suffering  the 
vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ;  "  behold  his  severity." 

Look  at  the  case  of  the  Jewish  nation  ;  how  partial 
Jehovah  was  to  them,  how  loth  to  give  them  up,  how 
long  he  bore  with  them,  how  much  he  did  for  them, 
how  great  was  his  goodness,  but  even  them  he  spared 
not.  With  a  tremendous  overthrow  he  destroyed 
them ;  "  behold  his  severity." 

In  this  enumeration  I  have  omitted  many  less  fami- 
liar facts,  desiring  only  to  afford  you  a  specimen. 
Will  any  object  that  they  are  all  taken  from  the  Bible  ? 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  81 

What  if  they  are,  and  what  if  their  credibility  rested 
only  on  its  testimony,  though  it  does  not  ?  Why  is 
not  the  history  of  the  Bible  to  be  believed  ?  Why  is 
not  Moses  as  credible  an  historian  as  your  Herodotus 
or  Livy  ?  But  who  is  so  ignorant  of  profane  history, 
as  not  to  know,  that  it  is  full  of  the  accounts  of  build- 
ing up  and  casting  down,  of  rise  and  ruin,  though 
less  miraculously  accomplished,  yet  all  under  the  eye 
and  at  the  will  of  the  same  providence,  and  that  there 
are  monuments  of  wrath  every  where  close  beside 
monuments  of  mercy  ? 

I  have  but  one  more  testimony  to  add.  It  is  from 
the  very  plan  of  salvation,  and  arises  out  of  the  princi- 
ples on  which  that  plan  is  constructed.  If  God  had 
not  been  infinitely  good  and  gracious,  no  plan  of  re- 
deeming man  had  ever  been  thought  of,  if  he  had 
been  only  good  and  gracious  and  these  attributes  had 
not  consisted  with  others  of  a  severer  cast,  the  plan 
would  not  have  been  such  as  it  is.  Is  there  no  re- 
cognition of  any  thing  but  grace  in  the  development 
of  the  plan  of  redemption  ?  Was  it  grace  that  cast  the 
Saviour  to  the  ground  in  such  agony  as  exuded  blood 
from  all  the  pores  of  his  body  ;  was  it  grace  which 
filled  that  cup  he  fain  would  have  put  away  from 
him,  if  it  had  been  possible,  and  why  was  it  not  pos- 
sible, if  grace  reigneth  in  sole  sovereignty  7  Was  it 
not  something  of  a  darker,  sterner  cast,  that  caused 
the  father  to  withdraw  himself  in  that  hour  of  utmost 
need  and  that  gave  occasion  to  that  bitter  lamenta- 
tion, ''  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ?"  Mercy  was  the  beginning  of  redemption,  mer- 
cy will  be  the  glorious  end  of  it,  but  in  the  progress, 


82 


justice  has  to  be  satisfied,  and  mercy  reigns  trium 
phant  through  the  satisfaction  of  justice,  and  wide  is 
the  sceptre  of  her  rule,  and  she  inviteth  all  to  be  her 
subjects,  and  weepeth  over  them  that  will  not  bow  to 
her  gentle  reign.  It  was  grace  that  sent  forth  the 
Son,  but  wrath  filled  full  her  cup,  and  there  was  in 
it,  I  know  not  what  pain  and  sorrow  ;  death  was  at  the 
bottom,  and  it  was  presented  to  him ;  he  paused ; 
he  prayed  ;  he  asked  heaven  if  it  was  necessary ;  it 
was  ;  he  drank  it,  and  wrath  hath  now  no  more  a  cup 
for  them  to  drink  who  are  in  Jesus. 

I  have  ended  the  discussion.  It  has  not  been  my 
object  to  declaim,  but  to  demonstrate.  I  have  not 
spoken  to  that  within  you  which  feels,  but  to  that 
which  thinks;  nothing  to  the  faculty  that  receives 
impressions,  but  all  to  the  faculty  that  investigates 
truth,  and  what  have  we  found  ?  God's  own  account 
of  his  character,  and  his  revealed  constitution  under 
all  its  changes,  and  all  the  acts  of  his  government, 
bearing  united  testimony  to  the  goodness  and  severity 
of  God,  and  the  plan  of  salvation  attesting  the  same. 
We  have  found  him  slow  but  sure  to  anger,  always 
prefering  forgiveness,  yet  not  declining  the  alterna- 
tive of  punishment,  bearing  in  one  hand  the  sceptre 
of  mercy,  in  the  other  the  sword  of  justice,  always 
extending  first  the  sceptre,  but  afterwards  using  the 
sword  ;  we  have  found  him  such  a  being,  as  obedience 
has  every  thing  to  hope  from,  and  disobedience  as 
much  to  fear.  Then  let  us  believe  it ;  he  that  will  not 
has  made  voluntary  shipwreck  of  his  understanding. 

And  hear,  finally,  what  use  I  am  going  to  make  of 
it  all.     This  God  who  has  been  described  to  you 


83 

to  day,  is  the  one  with  whom  each  of  you  has  to  do; 
under  his  eye  and  to  his  presence  each  is  moving  ; 
and  it  is  the  same  that  will  take  strict  account  of  your 
actions,  and  give  lasting  complexion  to  your  eternity. 
He  changes  not ;  what  he  was,  he  is,  he  will  be.  The 
same  that  he  was  when  every  place  was  heaven  and 
every  feeling  joy  ;  when  he  beautified  Paradise  and 
blessed  the  parent  pair  ;  when  Noah  found  grace  in 
his  sight ;  when  Abraham  arrested  and  intreated  and 
moved  him  ;  when  of  Ephraim  he  said,  "  how  can 
I  give  thee  up  ?"  and  to  Israel,  "  why  will  ye  die  ? 
I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  sinner." 

When  true  to  his  promise,  for  love  of  man  he  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  the  same  he  is  now,  to  day,  as  slow  to 
anger,  as  easy  to  be  moved,  as  prone  to  forgive,  as 
bountiful  to  bless.  Behold  here  the  God  with  whom 
thou  hast  to  do,  oh,  thou  that  penitently  seekest  him, 
and  forsakest  thy  sins ;  fear  not  to  trust  him,  he 
has  laid  a  foundation  here  for  thy  hope,  so  solid  that 
nothing  can  shake  it,  and  so  broad  that  it  may  be 
built  upon  even  unto  heaven.  Art  thou  willing  ?  He 
was  ever  willing.  Dost  thou  believe,  thou  art  saved, 
thy  interests  are  interwoven  with  those  of  the  Son 
of  God.  Hast  thou  sworn  eternal  enmity  to  sin,  and 
fealty  to  God  ?  thy  sin  is  covered  and  thy  God  re- 
conciled. Hast  thou  set  thy  face  towards  heaven  ? 
thou  shalt  reach  it.  Multiply  thy  hopes,  enlarge  thy 
desires,  stretch  thy  conception  and  heaven  shall  out- 
do them  all.  Oh,  what  a  place  will  that  be  which 
the  architect  of  the  universe  will  prepare  for  them  he 
loves.  Hope  in  him,  he  changes  not.  No,  he  never 
changes,  sinner.     The  same  he  was  when  first  he 


84 


frowned,  and  the  rebel  spirits  fled  to  their  proper  hell, 
carrying  Avith  them  that  which  made  it ;  when,  in  al- 
tered tone,  he  called  Adam  out  of  his  hiding  place, 
and  touched  him  with  death  ;  when,  at  his  command, 
heaven  and  earth  contributed  their  waters  to  cleanse 
a  corrupted  world  ;  when  he  commanded  the  fire  to 
come  out  of  its  harmless  latency  and  consume  the 
guilty  cities  ;  when  he  gave  up  Ephraim,  and  when 
he  cut  oif  Israel,  the  same  he  is  now,  oh  !  sinner,  the 
same  determined  enemy  of  sin,  so  fearful  in  threaten- 
ing, so  faithful  in  fulfillment,  so  terrible  in  ven- 
geance ;  and  will  be,  oh  !  neglecter  of  this  salva- 
tion, when  thou  liest  down  to  die.  Thou  wilt 
have  him  to  do  with,  oh !  impenitent,  disobedient 
man.  What  art  thou  that  thou  canst  escape  ?  When 
angels,  his  first  born,  could  not,  and  the  old  world 
could  not,  and  Sodom  could  not,  though  for  it  Abra- 
ham, God's  friend,  addressed  himself  to  the  loving 
kindness  of  God ;  and  Israel  could  not,  and  Judah 
could  not,  and  even  Jesus  Christ  could  not.  Oh  ! 
what  height  of  self-love,  and  strength  of  self-delusion. 
Js  there  nothing  for  thee  to  fear  from  him  ?  What 
hath  possessed  thee  to  think  so  ?  What  has  infatuated 
you,  oh  men,  to  choose  for  the  resting  place  of  your 
souls,  a  spot  that  has  been  seared  so  oft  and  scathed 
by  the  bolts  that  have  burst  upon  it.  I  would  allure 
you  from  it ;  but  if  I  cannot,  I  would  frighten  you 
away  from  it.  There  is  wrath.  I  have  proved  it  to 
you.  Tempt  it  not.  Mercy  has  opened  a  refuge,  fly 
to  it,  agree  with  your  God,  can  you  contend  with 
him?  ''His  way  is  in  the  whirlwind,  and  in  the 
storm,  and  the  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet ;  he  re- 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  85 

buketh  the  sea  and  maketh  it  dry,  and  drieth  up  all 
the  rivers,  Bashan  languisheth,  and  Carmel  and  the 
flower  of  Lebanon  languisheth,  the  mountains  quake 
at  him,  and  the  hills  melt,  and  the  earth  is  burned  at 
his  presence,  yea  the  world  and  all  that  dwell  there- 
in ;  his  fury  is  poured  out  like  fire.  Who  can  stand 
before  his  indignation,  and  who  can  abide  in  the 
fierceness  of  his  anger  ?"  Can  you  contend  with 
him  ?  Dare  you  enter  the  lists  against  him  ?  Then, 
submit,  be  reconciled  to-day — now. 


SERMON    VI. 


Oh  how  great  is  thy  goodness,  which  thou  hast  laid  up  for  them 
that  fear  thee  ;  which  thou  hast  wrought  for  them  that  trust  in 
thee  before  the  sons  of  men! — P^alm  xxxi.  19. 


How  much  there  is  to  excite  in  us  the  feeling  of 
admiration  !  How  many  and  strong  the  appeals  con- 
tinually made  to  that  principle  which  God  has  im- 
planted in  the  soul!  There  is  much  in  art,  man's 
workmanship,  to  admire,  but  more  in  nature,  God's 
handy  work.  All  his  works  are  wonders.  He  is  to 
be  admired  in  all  he  does.  In  the  physical  creation 
there  is  much  which  is  admirable,  but  there  is  more 
in  the  moral.  These  are  specimens  of  the  moral  sub- 
lime, with  which  no  natural  sublimity  can  compete. 
What  is  the  symmetry  of  form  when  compared  with 
the  comeliness  of  virtue.  What  is  skilfu  1  contrivance, 
and  wise  adaption  when  brought  into  competition 
with  virtuous  action  ?  There  is  no  beauty  like  that 
of  holiness  ;  no  grandeur  comparable  with  the  gran- 
deur of  goodness.  But  if  there  be  in  the  moral  works 
of  God  so  much  to  admire,  how  much  more  there 
must  needs  be  in  the  mighty  workman,  in  God  him- 
self. What  wisdom  can  there  be  in  mere  contrivance 
like  that  which  belongs  to  the  contriving  mind  7 
what  expressed  goodness  of  God  can  bear  compari- 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  87 

son  with  his  essential  goodness  ?  We  must  look  at 
the  perfections  of  God.  We  must  con  template  the 
divine  nature,  if  we  would  have  our  admiration  ele- 
vated to  its  highest  pitch.  There  is  nothing  either 
of  a  moral  or  physical  nature  out  of  God,  which  is  in 
any  wise  so  wonderful  as  God  himself. 

The  divine  attributes  are  distinguished  into  the  natu- 
ral and  moral.  Of  the  former  imioer^  is  one.  How  won- 
derful, glorious,  awful  is  the  power  of  God  !  But  not  so 
much  so  as  his  goodness^  which  is  one  of  his  moral 
attributes.  All  his  perfections  are  excellent,  but  how 
excellent  is  his  loving  kindness !  Oh ! ''  how  great,"  the 
Psalmist  exclaims,  is  thy  power  ?  no — thy  goodness  ! 
There  is  wonderful  sublimity  in  the  declara- 
tion, "  Let  there  be  light."  There  was  a  display  of 
'power.  But  what  is  even  this  to  the  sublimity  of  the 
statement,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
God  chooses  the  name  which  is  to  designate  his  na- 
ture not  from  among  his  natural,  but  from  among  his 
moral  attributes.     God  is  not  power.    God  is  love. 

''Oh  how  great  his  goodness."  The  Psalmist 
bursts  out  here  into  an  expression  of  admiration 
in  view  of  the  goodness  of  God.  What  more  wor- 
thy of  being  admired  by  us !  We  see  all  that  he 
saw  of  it,  and  we  see  more.  New  and  numerous  dis- 
plays of  divine  goodness  have  been  made  since  he 
died.  He  saw  not  the  cross,  the  great  radiant  point 
of  goodness,  the  chief  work  of  love  !  If  he  dimly  de- 
scribed it  in  the  future,  yet  we  have  it  in  near  and 
distinct  retrospect.     Nay  more,  before  our  eyes  hath 


€8 

Jesus  Christ  been  evidently  set  forth,  crucified,  as  it 
were,  among  us.  Nor  have  we  seen  merely,  we  have 
felt  his  goodness.  Not  only  our  judgments  pronounce 
upon  it,  but  our  hearts  bear  testimony  to  it. 

Let  us  contemplate  it,  that  we  may  admire  it.  God 
grant  we  may  more  than  admire.  God  grant  that 
while  we  admire,  we  may  repent,  and  praise,  and 
confide  and  love.  May  God  graciously  mingle  peni- 
tence and  gratitude,  trust  and  hope,  and  love  with 
our  admiration. 

But  where  shall  we  look  ?  Where  not  look  rather  ? 
Wherever  we  turn  our  eyes,  we  meet  goodness  in 
some  of  its  diversified  forms.  The  earth  is  green 
with  it.  The  air  is  balmy  with  it.  The  deep  blue 
vault  of  heaven  proclaims  it.  Day  unto  day  tells  of 
it.  If  we  look  at  ih^past^  it  is  a  history  of  goodness ; 
if  at  the  jtresent^  our  eye  sees  the  display  of  it ;  our 
ear  hears  the  report  of  it ;  our  hearts  are  gladdened 
with  the  experience  of  it.  It  mingles  in  every 
thing.  How  great  it  must  be,  when  the  loss  of  one 
of  its  ten  thousand  benefits  can  give  such  pain. 
The/w^wre  we  have  reason  to  know,  is  still  more  full 
of  it ;  we  may  look  abroad  or  at  home  :  we  may  con- 
template others  as  its  objects,  or  ourselves  ;  we  may 
look  around  ouselves  or  within  ourselves.  Its  forms 
how  innumerable,  its  varieties  how  diversified  :  how 
many  good  things  there  are,  and  no  good  thing  with- 
holds he  from  them  that  walk  uprightly.  Its  adap- 
tations how  nice  ;  for  every  want  a  supply,  for  every 
malady  a  balm,  and  even  for  every  desire  satisfac- 
tion !  "  Thou  openest  thine  hand  and  satisfiest  the  de- 
sire of  every  living  thing."     Think  of  the  number- 


89 

less  objects  of  the  divine  goodness,  even  in  this  sin- 
gle sphere ;  this  Httle  spot  of  space  ;  how  many  Uv- 
ing  things,  and  not  one  overlooked.  '•  These  all  wait 
upon  thee,  and  thou  givest  them  their  meat  in  due 
season."  The  Lord  is  good  to  all  and  his  tender 
mercies  are  over  all  his  works.  The  sustenance  of 
the  fowl,  the  clothing  of  the  lilly,  the  life  of  the  most 
insignificant  living  thing  he  makes  his  care.  How 
much  more  is  man  his  care,  man  the  immortal  soul 
his  charge,  intelligent.  Godlike  !  Who  need  fear, 
who  may  hope  to  be  overlooked  by  such  a  bemg  ? 
Think  then  to  how  many  God  is  good.  But  what  is 
the  sum  of  these,  to  the  aggregate  amount  of  those 
that  have  lived  since  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and 
all  have  been  the  objects  of  his  goodness,  the  sub- 
jects of  his  care  and  regard.  Think  how  long  God 
has  been  good.  His  goodness  is  one  of  his  essential, 
eternal  attributes  ;  how  long  he  has  been  exercising 
his  goodness,  even  since  there  were  creatures  ;  aye, 
and  in  the  making  of  those  creatures ;  all  he  made  he  saw 
and  pronounced  good,  very  good.  Man  was  good.  God 
made  him  not  what  he  is  now.  Say  not  in  apoloo-ies 
for  sin,  that  thou  art  as  thou  wast  made.  It  is  not  so. 
If  this  earth  was  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of 
God,  then  six  thousand  years  has  he  been  exercising 
goodness.  Had  a  habit  of  beneficence  been  to  be 
formed  by  God,  how  deep  this  long  continued  and 
unwearied  exercise  of  goodness  must  have  fixed  it. 
How  accustomed  to  the  exercise  of  goodness  has  our 
Creator  become.  How  natural  it  must  be  to  him  to 
do  good  !  We  should  think  of  the  uninterruptedness 
as  well  as  length  of  the  divine  goodness.  God  has 
8* 


90  NEVINS     SERMONS. 

never  rested  from  this  work,  nor  is  he  tired.     It  is  as 
if  he  had  just  begun  to  do  good.     Men  soon  become 
weary  in  benevolent  doing.     It  takes  but  a  few  acts 
of  kindness,  a  few  exercises  of  hberahty  to  tire  them. 
The  apphcations  to  them  must  not  be  frequently  re- 
peated.    But  God  encourages  us  to  ask  of  him  daily. 
Indeed  he  waits  not  in  most  cases  for  our  asking. 
His  bounty  anticipates  our  solicitations.     He  gives 
unasked.     We  may  meditate  on  the  abundance  of 
the  divine  goodness  ;  "  abundant  in  goodness,"  is  a 
part  of  his  name  as  proclaimed  by  him.     He  filleth 
his  creatures  with  good.     He  giveth  us  all  things 
richly  to  enjoy  ;  "  my  cup  runneth  over,"  said  one. 
We  may  dwell  on  its  condescension^  how  low  it  stoops. 
"What  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  that 
thou  shouldest  magnify  him,  that  thou  shouldest  set 
thine  heart  upon  him,  that  thou  shouldest  visit  him 
every  morning  and  try  him  every  moment?"    There  is 
something  admirable  also  in  i\ve  facility  of  the  divine 
goodness.     This  idea  is  expressed  in  the  simplest,  yet 
most  sublime  manner  in  Psalm  cxlv.,  "  Thou  open- 
est  thine   hand,  and  satisfiest  the   desire  of  every 
living  thing."     Longinus  would  have  taken  notice  of 
this,  had  he  met  with  it.     Just  see  here  the  cause, 
"  thou  openest  thy  hand,"  and  then  the  effect,  "  and 
satisfiest  the  desire  of  every  living  thing  ;"  of  every 
living  thing,  the  desire  thou  satisfiest,  and  to  do  it, 
hast  only  to  open  thy  hand.     But  there  is  one  exer- 
cise of  goodness  to  which  this  remark  does  not  apply. 
It  was  not  easy.     The  bare  opening  of  the  divine 
hand  could  not  effect  it.     Salvation   could  not  be 
spoken  into  existence  as  light  was.     Redemption  was 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  91 

not  by  jjoicer^  but  by  jyrice^  and  the  price  was  not 
silver  or  gold,  but  life,  the  most  precious  life.  "God 
spared  not  his  own  Son ;"  and  that  was  not  easy. 

We  must  not  forget  the  character  of  the  ob- 
jects of  God's  goodness.  Sinners,  this  commendeth 
the  love  of  God.  "  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy  for  the 
great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  dead  in 
sins."  And  we  must  remember  their  habitual  hearing 
towards  God,  even  while  receiving  and  enjoying  his 
bounty.  It  is  ingratitude.  In  this  respect  the  mere 
animal  outdoes  the  man.  "  The  ox  knoweth  his 
owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib,  but  Israel  doth 
not  know,  my  people  doth  not  consider."  It  is  hard  to 
keep  on  doing  good  to  such  as  rebel  against  him  who 
has  nourished  and  brought  them  up  as  children. 
How  many  never  thank  God  in  serious  and  thought- 
ful earnest  ;  never  express  thankfulness  except 
thoughtlessly,  and,  therefore,  profanely.  How  few 
speak  or  sing  his  praises  !  The  whole  creation  should 
be  one  choir  of  singers,  and  the  chief-ones  of  creation 
its  precentors.  Every  voice  should  be  instructed,  and 
each  voice  the  organ  of  a  heart.  In  heaven  they  all 
sing  praises.  But  on  earth  ;  in  the  church,  how  few? 
How  few  here  ?  The  people  do  not  praise  thee.  I 
blush,  I  mourn  that  such  goodness  as  God's  is  so  feebly 
celebrated  here  ;  so  faint  a  song  sent  up  to  the  praise 
of  divine  grace  and  glory ;  if  our  praises  must  be 
represented  by  a  choir,  that  it  should  be  by  so  small 
and  inconstant  a  choir.  But,  be  it  remembered,  the 
legitimate  use  of  a  choir  is  not  to  represent^  but  to 
lead  and  aid  the  praise  of  a  whole  people.     I  would 


92 


this  hint^  or  whatever  it  may  be   called,  might  be 
taken. 

But  the  goodness  of  God  has  a  length,  breadth, 
depth,  and  height,  each  incomprehensible.  No  finite 
mind  can  take  in  its  dimensions.  Who  can  know 
it  ?  It  passeth  knowledge.  Hear  what  it  says.  It 
speaks  in  this  sacred,  volume.  See  what  it  has  done. 
All  history  is  a  record  of  it :  what  it  is  doing  ;  what 
it  is  going  to  do.  There  is  much  to  admire  in  what 
it  has  done  and  is  doing.  But  there  will  be  more  to 
admire  in  its  future  displays.  It  was  when  the 
Psalmist  looked  forward,  and  by  faith  descried  in 
the  long  distance  before  him  the  goodness  of  God, 
that  he  burst  out  into  this  exclamation  of  admiration, 
^' Oh !  how  great  is  thy  goodness  which  thou 
hast  laid  up  f  The  past  is  great,  and  the  present 
greater  still ;  but  greater  far  is  that  which  is  to  come. 
The  greatest  displays  of  goodness,  if  one  only  be  ex- 
cepted, are  in  reserve.  The  inheritance  incorruptible 
and  undefiled,  is  reserved  in  heaven  for  you.  Eye 
hath  seen  many  and  marvellous  displays  of  divine 
goodness,  and  ear  hath  heard  of  many,  and  busy,  cre- 
ative imagination  has  conceived  more  ;  but  eye  hath 
not  seen,  ear  hath  not  heard,  nor  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  has  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him.  Oh  !  what  is  earth  to 
heaven  ?  What  is  grace  to  glory  l  There  are  to 
be  exhibitions  and  exercises  of  divine  benevolence 
hereafter  far  beyond  all  that  have  been  seen,  heard, 
or  imagined  ;  exhibitions  of  goodness  entirely  novel, 
not  now  conceived  to  be  possible.     New  forms  of 


93 

love,  new  sensations  of  pleasure  ;  untold,  iinimagined 
happiness  awaits  the  people  of  God ;  when  grace  is 
to  be  crowned  with  glory  ;  when  earth  is  exchanged 
for  heaven ;  when  the  heirs  of  God  come  to  the 
years  of  majority  ;  when  the  period  of  discipline  and 
training  is  completed ;  when  this  imperfection  shall 
put  on  perfection,  and  this  mortal  immortality ;  when 
we  shall  no  longer  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  and 
know  in  part,  but  see  face  to  face,  and  know  even  as 
we  are  known ;  when  we  shall  have  crossed  the 
river ;  when  at  length  we  arrive  at  home,  and  are 
established  in  the  place  which  Christ  has  gone  to 
prepare.  What  a  place  that  must  be  !  prepared  by 
Christ  for  his  purchased  people  ;  and  when  there 
will  be  an  end  of  such  mixed  society  as  we  mingle 
with  on  earth  ;  when  all  shall  be  of  one  mind  and 
one  heart,  and  love  shall  reign  triumphant,  univer- 
sal, alone  ;  not  a  tear,  not  a  terror  ;  no  pain,  no 
night,  no  death,  but  light,  life,  love.  ''  Oh  !  how  great 
is  thy  goodness  which  thou  hast  laid  up  .'" 

But  is  it  for  all  ?  It  is  in  offer  to  all ;  within  the 
grasp  of  all ;  but  all  will  not  enter  in  at  the  strait 
gate,  and  lay  hold  of  eternal  life.  Only  a  certain 
class  will  enjoy  it.  They  are  described  here  as  those 
who /ear  God  and  trust  in  him.  Their  fear  of  God 
secures  their  obedience  to  him,  and  when  they  have 
done  all,  they  count  not  upon  it,  but  trust  in  his 
mercy  and  in  his  Son  for  pardon  and  salvation. 
"  The  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in  them  that  fear  him  : 
in  those  that  hope  in  his  mercy."  Such  are  the  sub- 
jects of  regeneration  ;  and  being  thus  pure  in  heart, 


94 


they  are  blessed  and  shall  see  God.  They  repent  of 
their  sins  ;  they  believe  in  Christ ;  they  love  G-od 
and  one  another.  They  walk  by  faith.  It  is  but 
one  class  of  persons  who  are  thus  variously  described 
in  the  Scriptures.  If  you  answer  to  this  description, 
this  goodness  is  laid  up  for  you,  but  not  otherwise. 

But  I  ought  to  say  that  these  persons  are  not 
ashamed  of  their  fear  of  God  and  their  confidence 
in  him.  They  trust  in  him  "  before  the  sons  of 
men.  They  are  visible,  as  well  as  real  Christians  ; 
while,  with  the  heart,  they  believe  unto  righteous- 
ness, with  the  mouth  they  make  confession  unto 
salvation.  They  declare  themselves  on  the  Lord's 
side,  as  well  as  go  over  to  it. 

There  are  acts  which  must  be  performed  ;  a  char- 
acter had  ;  a  wo7^k  of  God,  of  which  we  must  be  the 
subjects  ;  a  spirit ^  which  we  must  imbibe  or  the 
promises  are  not  ours. 

And  now,  in  closing  this  discourse  on  divine  good- 
ness, I  must  submit  some  inferences. 

How  sinful  is  sin,  all  sin  !  It  being  against  one 
so  great,  so  good,  good  to  all,  good  to  us. 

What  a  heart  of  sin  that  must  be  which  such 
goodness  does  not  lead  to  repentance.  How  hard 
when  such  love  will  not  break  it !  How  obstinate 
that  su  ch  kindness  cannot  subdue  it !  Are  there  not 
hearts  here  which  are  still  proof  against  all  good- 
ness ? 

How  reasonable  it  is,  that  the  laws  of  a  being  so 
benevolent  should  be  strictly,  universally,  and  cheer- 
fully obeyed  !     Can  such  a  being  have  made  laws 


95 

by  obedience,  to  which  the  ultimate  good  of  his  crea- 
tures is  not  to  be  promoted  ?  Yet  how  many  of  God's 
beneficiaries  hve  daily  in  the  transgression  of  his 
commands  ;  Hve  on  his  bounty,  but  not  in  his  fear, 
nor  to  his  glory  ! 

What  an  appeal  the  Bible  makes  to  our  hopes ! 
Oh !  shall  any  of  you  fail  of  the  inheritance  reserved 
in  heaven  ;  be  forever  separated  from  the  glory  of 
the  divine  goodness?  We  must  not  forget  the  me- 
dium of  God's  goodness  to  us.  Christ,  the  chief  gift 
of  his  goodness,  is  the  medium  of  all  the  rest.  We 
have  been  speaking  of  the  object  of  hope.  The 
foundation  of  it  is  Jesus  Christ. 

How  important  we  should  be  God's  people.  There 
is  a  favor  which  he  bears  only  to  them.  Oh  !  taste 
and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good. 

God's  goodness  is  not  intended  merely  for  us  to  con- 
template and  admire,  but  also  to  imitate.  We  are 
commanded  to  be  merciful,  holy,  perfect  even  as  he 
is  ;  to  resemble  him  in  beneficence. 

And  now  what  shall  his  goodness  effect  ?  Who 
knows  not  that  there  is  moral  power  in  goodness, 
efficiency  in  love  ?  The  love  of  Jesus  is  the  greatest 
force  in  the  universe.  I  say,  what  shall  this  good- 
ness do  ?  We  know  what  its  tendency  and  intent  is  ; 
to  lead  sinners  to  repentance.  Here  are  sinners  that 
have  never  repented  towards  God  ;  hearts  that  have 
never  been  broken  ;  or,  if  broken,  broken  by  the  an- 
guish of  bereavemeat  rather  than  by  the  sense  of 
sin.  Shall  it  break  your  hearts,  lead  you  to  repent? 
It  may  never.  A  thing  does  not  always  reach  what 
it  has  a  tendency  to  ;  an  expedient  may  be  thrown 


96  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

in  the  way.  A  thing  may  be  adapted  and  designed 
to  an  end,  and  not  secure  it.  Shall  this  goodness 
lead  you  to  repent?  Ah!  suffer  it.  Let  it  reach, 
move,  melt,  change  your  hearts.  Superadd  to  thy 
goodness,  oh  !  God,  thy  grace,  and  it  shall  do  it.  Oh  ! 
thou  that  spared  not  thy  Son,  give  thy  Spirit  too. 


SERMON   VII.^ 


Bless  the  Lord,  oh  !  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits. 
Psalm  ciii.  2. 


This  hour,  which,  from  year  to  year  we  have  been 
wont  to  spend  together,  has  sometimes  been  conse- 
crated to  one  subject  of  meditation,  and  sometimes  to 
another,  for  there  are  many  subjects  which  are  ap- 
propriate to  the  day  and  the  occasion.  You  will  con- 
jecture from  the  text  to  what  theme  I  intend  to  con- 
secrate this  hour,  so  far  as  my  act  can  consecrate  it. 
I  am  not  going  to  remind  you  now,  as  sometimes  I 
have  done  while  occupying  this  position  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  yearS;  of  the  brevity  of  life,  and  the  rapidity 
of  time's  flight,  and  death's  awful  certainty,  and  still 
more  awful  uncertainty,  and  the  issues  of  death.  Nor 
shall  I  put  you  in  remembrance,  except  it  be  inci- 
dentally, of  the  vanity  of  man,  the  transitoriness  of 
all  human  things,  the  emptiness  of  worldly  grandeur, 
and  the  fading  and  fleeting  nature  of  every  thing 
temporal  and  terrestrial,  though  these  are  topics  on 
which  I  might,  not  inappropriately  descant.  Nor  is 
our  theme  to-day  that  judgment,  whither  we  are  all 
hastening,  and  which  so  many  of  our  fellow-mortals 

*  Preached  on  New- Year's  day,  January  1,  1828. 
9 


98 

and  some  of  our  fellow-worshippers  have  reached 
since  the  last  beginning  of  days :  nor  is  it  immortality, 
except  as  immortality  should  combine  itself  with 
every  subject  and  diffuse  itself  through  all  our  medi- 
tations. Nor  in  looking  back  on  the  year  and  on 
life  will  it  be  a  primary  object  with  me  to  search  out 
and  set  before  you  your  sins,  and  to  excite  you  to 
repentance,  though  well  I  know,  that,  if  you  do  faith- 
fully the  duty  which  I  am  going  to  inculcate,  you 
cannot  help  remembering  your  sins,  and  you  will 
repent  of  them.  Though  no  two  subjects  stand  in 
more  direct  contrast  to  each  other,  than  the  divine 
goodness,  and  human  sinfulness  and  unworthiness, 
yet,  as  subjects  of  thought,  none  are  more  closely  as- 
sociated, for  contrast  is  our  principle  of  association  ; 
how  can  you  think  of  the  one  without  thinking  of  the 
other  ?  Our  sins  constitute  the  shading  of  the  picture, 
of  which  God's  benefits  are  the  light  and  coloring. 
One  glance  takes  in  the  whole  ;  and  no  sinner  can 
be  really  grateful,  without  being  penitent.  Repen- 
tance is  a  sinner's  gratitude,  its  first  and  deepest  emo- 
tion; '''kno west  thou  not  that  the  goodness  of 'God 
leadeth  thee  to  repentance  ?"' 

I  have  already  indicated  the  subject  to  which  I 
shall  attempt  to  direct  your  thoughts  ;  and  the  chord 
of  the  h'eart,  that  instrument  of  many  strings,  that  I 
shall  aim  at :  for  to  touch  it,  so  as  to  cause  a  full  and 
lasting  vibration,  is  not  mine  ;  God  alone  can  do 
that :  for  that,  the  divine  finger  must  move  across  it. 
It  is  easy  to  awaken  slight  and  transient  emotions  of 
gratitude.  That  may  be  done,  and  often  is,  by  some 
extraordinary  display  of  divine  goodness,  some  un- 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  99 

expected  mercy,  while  the  heart  remains  untouched  ; 
just  as  sometimes  an  external  concussion,  by  making 
the  whole  instrument  to  tremble,  calls  forth  sound 
from  every  string,  though  none  is  touched  ;  but  the 
long  and  loud  vibration  of  praise  is  never  heard  from 
the  heart,  until  the  hand  of  heaven  comes  upon  it. 
Oh  !  that  it  may  come  on  every  heart  here  to-day ! 
and  be  not  this  hour  only,  but  this  whole  day,  and 
every  future  day  of  life  sacred  to  gratitude,  and  then 
shall  immortality  be  spent  in  praise. 

The  Psalmist  addresses  his  soul ;  "  Oh  !  my  soul." 
He  was  wont  to  do  it.  On  one  occasion  we  find  him 
expostulating  with  it,  for  unreasonable  depression, 
''  why  art  thou  cast  down,  oh  !  my  soul,  and  why  art 
thou  disquieted  within  me ;  hope  thou  in  God ;"  and 
perhaps  there  are  those  here  to  whom  this  language 
seems  more  appropriate,  than  that  of  the  text ;  to 
whom  this  day  brings  painful  remembrances  and 
renews  the  recollection  of  bereavement ;  some  with 
whom  the  past  year  has  been  a  year  of  sorrow,  and 
who  have  brought  a  heavy  heart  with  them  tp  our 
sanctuary  to-day  ;  and  feel  as  if  their  feelings  could 
not  chime  in  with  our  meditations.  But  is  there  one 
here  who  has  not  benefits  to  remember,"  and  abundant 
cause  why  he  should  bless  the  Lord?  What  if  you 
have  been  afiiicted  ;  will  you  except  affliction  from 
your  hst  of  benefits,  when  "  whom  the  Lord  loves  he 
chastens  ?"  The  Psalmist  did  not  make  this  excep- 
tion ;  he  says  "  it  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been 
afflicted  ;"  "  before  I  was  afflicted  I  went  astray  ;"  "I 
know,  oh !  Lord,  that  thou  in  faithfulness  hast 
afflicted  me."     Affliction  seems  to  be  one  of  the  pro- 


100  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

niised  blessings  of  the  covenant,  which,  while  it  can- 
not but  occasion  grief,  calls  also  for  gratitude.  Is 
never  any  thing  salutary  that  is  painful  ?  It  may  be 
that,  that  very  affliction,  in  the  remembrance  of  which 
you  feel  as  if  you  could  not  praise,  has  been  the 
greatest  of  the  divine  benefits  to  you  ;  and  that  God's 
dealings  with  you  make  a  louder  and  more  urgent 
call  on  you  for  gratitude,  than  is  made  on  any  other ; 
invoking  you  to  praise  him  through,  and  with  your 
tears,  and  from  the  altar  of  your  broken  heart  to  send 
up  unto  him  the  sweetest  and  most  abundant  incense 
of  gratitude.  Let  every  one,  then,  join  in  the  charge 
which  the  Psalmist  gives  his  soul,  "  bless  the  Lord, 
oh  !  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits," 

The  language  of  the  text  seems  to  chide  the  soul 
with  forgetfulness,  while  it  charges  it  not  to  forget. 
It  seems  to  imply  that  there  is  a  proneness  in  us  to  be 
unmindful  of  the  divine  benefits,  and  to  let  the 
instances  and  expressions  of  God's  goodness  slip  from 
our  memories.  And  who  does  not  know  this  to  be 
the  fact  ? 

It  is  not  in  reference  to  this  subject  alone  that  we 
are  forgetful.  We  are  generally  and  characteristi- 
cally, as  sinners,  forgetful,  inconsiderate  creatures. 
I  couple  these  words  together,  for  if  we  do  not  con- 
sider, we  may  as  well  forget.  Indeed  inconsidera- 
tion  is,  practically,  forgetfulness.  Now,  the  great 
complaint  of  God  is,  '-'my people  doth  not  consider." 
"  Oh  !  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood  this, 
that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end  ;"  they  con- 
sider not  the  work  of  the  Lord,  nor  regard  the  opera- 
tion of  his  hands.     ''  God  is  not  in  all  their  thoughts," 


101 


<'Now,  consider  this,  ye  that  forget  God."  It  is  surely 
no  wonder,  if  men  forget  God,  that  they  forget  his  bene- 
fits ;  and  that,  if  he  is  not  in  all  their  thoughts,  that  his 
goodness  should  not  be.     Perhaps  there  is  no  subject 
on  which  even  Christians  are  more  lamentably  un- 
mindful, than  this,  about  which  the  Psalmist  chides 
and   charges  his  soul.     The   very  uniformity  and 
abundance  of  the  divine  goodness  is  abused  to  the 
promoting  of  this  unmindfuhiess.     Because  there  is 
so  much  to  be  remembered,  and  so  much  which, 
with  the  greatest  eflfort  of  memory,  must  be  left  un- 
remembered,  we  do  not  lay  that  burden  on  the  me- 
mory which  it  can  easily  bear.     We  generalize  on  a 
subject,  on  which,  of  all  others,  we  ought  to  be  most 
particular.     We  acknowledge  that  he  crowneth  us 
with  loving  kindness  and  tender  mercies,  without 
considering  the  ways  in  which  that  loving  kindness 
displays  itself,  and  without  remembering  and  reflect- 
ing on  those  mercies  in  detail ;  and  consequently  our 
gratitude  is  too  much  a  general  and  indefinite  emo- 
tion.    We  say  "  he  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our 
sins,  nor  rewarded  us  according  to  our  iniquities," 
without  considering  first  what  our  sins  have  deserved, 
and  then  how  we  have  been  actually  dealt  with  ;  and 
yet,  unless  we  set  in  contrast  what  we  have  merited 
with  what  we  have  received,  we  cannot  enter  into 
the  sentiment  of  the  Psalmist  as  we  ought ;  and  our 
acknowledgment  is,  in  a  great  measure,  unmeaning. 
So  we  call  upon  our  souls  to  forget  not  all  his  bene- 
fits, while  we  take  no  pains  to  remind  our  souls  of 
any  of  them. 

What  if  the  divine  benefits  began  to  be  conferred 
9* 


102  NEVINS'  SERMONSS 

before  memory  commenced  its  record  ?  Yet  do  we 
not  know,  and  can  we  not  reflect  that  Omniscience 
has  watched  over  us  from  the  womb,  and  that  Om- 
nipotence rocked  our  cradle,  supported  our  first  un- 
stable steps,  and,  through  many  dangers,  led  us  along 
the  path  of  infancy  and  childhood.  And  need  we 
forget,  though  it  be  not  properly  a  subject  of  memory, 
the  circumstances  of  mercy,  under  which  we  came 
into  being,  the  hands  and  hearts  of  tenderness  that 
received  us,  and  rejoiced  in  the  care  of  us,  and  the 
manifold  distinctions  of  the  land  in  which  Provi- 
dence cast  our  lot,  and  above  all  that  we  were  born 
beneath  the  star  of  Bethlehem,  and  opened  our  eyes 
on  the  radiance  of  the  sun  of  righteousness.  Oh  ! 
my  soul,  forget  not  these  benefits  of  thy  God  to  thee. 
What  if,  from  childhood  up,  there  is  much  of  the 
divine  goodness  that  cannot  be  remembered.  Yet 
may  not  this  very  fact  be  reflected  on  with  gratitude, 
that,  where  one  benefit  is  remembered,  there  are  ten, 
yea,  ten  times  ten,  that  cannot  be  remembered.  But 
we  must  not  charge  all  this  defect  to  the  weakness  of 
memory ;  there  are  other  and  stronger  reasons  why 
the  benefits  which  God  has  been  conferring  upon  us^ 
are,  for  the  most  part,  forgotten.  They  made  but 
little  impression  on  our  hearts,  when  they  were  re- 
ceived, otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  forgot- 
ten. The  memory  is  tenacious  of  every  thing  that 
deeply  aftects  the  heart.  It  is  a  law  of  the  soul ; 
and,  again,  in  violation  of  another  law  of  the  soul, 
which  requires  that  we  should  frequently  review 
and  recall  what  we  would  retain,  we  have  not  been  in 
the  habit  from  time  to  time  of  reviewing,  and  bring- 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  103 

mg  afresh  before  us,  the  divine  benefits ;  and,  still 
again,  we  do  not  make  those  efforts  to  recollect  that 
we  ought.  If  you  would  sit  down  awhile  to-day, 
and  look  back,  and  around,  and  within,  and  ply 
your  memory,  many  are  the  mercies  that  you  would 
be  able  to  recollect,  which  hitherto  you  have  been 
utterly  unmindful  of;  and  how  can  any  of  you  more 
profitably  employ  a  portion  of  this  day  ? 

I  have  not  prescribed  to  myself  the  impracticable 
task  of  enumerating  the  divine  benefits.  They  are 
too  mimeious.  Even  those  that  we  all  enjoy  in 
common,  are  more  than  I  could  so  much  as  cur- 
sorily mention ;  life,  health,  reason,  kindred,  friend- 
ship, liberty,  peace,  the  Gospel,  a  Saviour  ;  on 
which  of  these  might  I  not  dwell  the  whole  time 
allotted  for  this  service,  and  as  for  the  last  "  forever 
his  dear  sacred  name,  might  dwell  upon  my  tongue." 
And  they  are  so  diversified;  how  many  have  we, 
which  others  have  not,  the  accompaniments  and 
effects  of  the  glorious  Gospel  which  has  been  put 
into  our  hands,  while  there  are  myriads  of  beings 
like  us,  which  it  has  never  reached  and  blessed. 
Let  not  these  be  forgotten  in  your  reflections  to-day. 
There  are  many  and  cogent  reasons  why  they  should 
not  be  forgotten  ;  they  exalt  you,  but  they  surely 
become,  through  your  abuse  of  them,  the  occasion 
oi  your  deeper  and  more  destructive  downfall.  This 
is  the  heaviest  of  all  condemnations,  that  light  has 
come  into  the  world,  and  men  have  loved  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil.  The 
•direst  curse  is  perversely  distilled  from  the  purest 
blessing.     The  condemnation  of  conscience  and  the 


104 

law  does  but  break  a  man,  but  on  whomsoever  the 
weight  of  the  condemnation  of  the  Gospel  falls,  it 
shall  grind  him  to  powder.  Do  not  set  down  this 
liability  as  a  draw-back  on  the  sum  of  benefits,  be- 
cause it  is  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  every 
benefit  which  is  conferred  on  an  accountable  being; 
he  may  misuse  the  talent  entrusted  to  him.  But  this 
is  a  digression  for  which,  however,  I  do  not  think  it 
necessary  to  apologize.  I  say  the  benefits  are  too 
various  to  be  enumerated,  as  well  as  too  many.  I 
know  not  where  I  should  begin  the  enumeration,  nor 
how  continue  it,  and  I  should  be  obliged  to  leave  it 
only  begun.  The  history  of  the  divine  goodness,  in 
the  case  of  each  individual,  here,  is  in  some  respects 
peculiar.  Our  schedules  of  benefits  do  not  exactly 
answer  to  each  other.  There  are  some,  yea,  many 
that  are  on  every  list ;  but  there  are  others,  that  are 
not  registered  by  all.  I  speak  to  some,  perhaps, 
whose  lives  have  been  redeemed  from  imminent  de- 
struction, and  who  can  join  with  much  more  sensi- 
bility than  others  can,  in  the  specification,  ''  who 
healeth  all  our  diseases."  Prosperity  is  enrolled 
among  the  benefits  of  one,  while  it  is  wanting  to  an- 
other, though  in  that  case,  doubtless,  God  saw  the 
absence  of  it  to  be  a  greater  blessing.  But,  omitting 
inferior  distinctions,  or  rather  leaving  them  for  you 
to  discover,  I  must  mention  one,  the  greatest  of  all. 
The  Gospel  says,  we  have,  in  common,  the  offer  of 
salvation  and  the  invitation  to  Christ,  and  through 
him  to  heaven  ;  but  salvation  itself  we  have  not  all 
realized  ;  a  Saviour  offered  we  have  all,  but  not  a 
Saviour  embraced  ;    Christ  tendered  to  us  in  the 


105 


Gospel,  but  not  formed  in  the  heart  the  hope  of 
glory  ;  reconciliation  has  been  proposed  to  every- 
one, but  reconciliation  has  not  been  accomplished  in 
every  case.  That  assemblage  of  benefits  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  brings  down  to  the  soul,  and  causes 
to  cluster  around  and  upon  it,  a  new  heart,  love,  joy, 
peace,  consolation  from  a  heavenly  source,  the  light 
of  the  divine  countenance,  the  presence  and  commu- 
nion of  God,  these  in  possession,  and  heaven  and 
glory  in  certain  prospect,  these,  oh  !  Christian,  thou 
hast,  while  thine  impenitent  friend  has  none  of  them. 
Mark  the  difference,  and  commemorate  it  at  the 
throne  of  grace  to-day  ;  the  difference,  it  is  great  as 
the  distinction  between  life  and  death,  and  wide  as 
the  impassable  distance  betwixt  heaven  and  hell. 
He  has  only  heard  that  God  is  gracious,  but  thou 
hast  tasted  that  he  is  gracious  ;  he  is  still  vexing 
himself  with  the  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water,  but 
thou,  happy  soul,  hast  found  thy  Avay  to  the  foun- 
tain of  living  waters.  And  when  was  it  ?  When  first 
was  the  new  heart  recorded  among  his  benefits  to 
you  ?  Are  there  not  here  to-day  many,  who  had 
not  this  blessing  on  their  list  a  year  ago,  that  have 
it  there  now  ?  Souls,  which,  during  that  interval, 
have  taken  the  heavenly  direction,  and  had  the  love 
of  Jesus  kindled  in  their  breasts,  the  song  of  salva- 
tion put  into  their  lips,  and  ineffable  hope  of  glory 
sunk  deep  in  their  hearts  !  Oh  !  forget  not  this 
benefit ;  forget  not  'I  canst  thou  ever  forget  the  year 
that  closed  yesterday,  a  year  that  will  be  memorable 
to  thee  throughout  eternity.  The  past  year  has 
been  a  memorable  year  to  this  church,  a  year  of  the 


106 


right  hand  of  the  Most  High,  a  year  of  the  visita- 
tion of  God  to  us,  in  which  he  has  most  manifestly 
heard  our  prayers  and  revived  his  work,  of  which 
we  have  the  most  unanswerable  evidence,  in  the 
moral  change  that  has  taken  place  in  many,  exhibiting 
its  reality  in  the  love  of  God  and  man,  in  the  works  of 
piety  and  charity.  "  Bless  the'  Lord,  oh  !  my  soul, 
and  forget  not  this  benefit ;"  and  "  let  the  people 
praise  him,  yea,  let  all  the  people  praise  him  ;"  and, 
on  this  extended  wing  of  gratitude,  let  prayer  arise, 
that  the  year  which  has  opened,  may  be  yet  more 
memorable  for  the  abundance  of  its  spiritual  blessings, 
a  year  signalized  above  every  other  by  the  visits  of 
God,  the  year  of  nativity  divine  to  many,  many  souls. 
I  have  said  already  twice  that  these  benefits  are 
too  many  and  various  to  be  enumerated  ;  even  the 
classes  of  benefits  are  many ;  they  are  temporal,  and 
they  are  spiritual  ;  of  time  and  of  eternity  ;  relating 
to  the  body  and  to  the  soul ;  blessings  in  hand,  and 
blessings  in  hope,  in  remembrance,  in  enjoyment,  and 
in  promise.  The  details  I  have  no  choice  but  to 
leave  to  you.  What  enhances  the  difficulty  of  ac- 
complishing this  task,  is  the  necessity  of  taking  into 
view  the  circumstances  under  which  these  benefits 
are  conferred,  in  order  to  estimate  the  gratitude  that 
is  due  for  them.  It  is  to  be  considered  who  confers 
them ;  God,  the  most  high  and  holy  God  ;  and  on 
whom  he  confers  them;  men,  insignificant  and  most 
unworthy  men  ;  his  smile  he  bestows  on  them  who 
most  richly  deserve  his  darkest  frown  ;  and  makes 
them  the  objects  of  his  favor,  who  merit  only  his 
wrath.     All  his  benefits  are  mercies  ;  every  exercise 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  107 

of  goodness  is  an  act  of  grace,  goodness  of  the  high- 
est kind.  He  confers  his  benefits  on  those  who 
make  no  acknowledgment  of  them ;  how  many  are 
the  favors  that  come  from  his  hand  for  which  no 
credit  is  given  him,  but  the  glory  is  awarded  to  an- 
other. And  yet  he  is  not  wearied,  but  continues  to 
confer  his  good  things,  in  face  of  continued  unthank- 
fulness.  The  hand  that  is  lifted  against  him,  he 
nerves  ;  the  tongue  that  profanes  his  name,  he  moves  • 
and  he  keeps  up  the  vital  play  in  the  heart  that  ob- 
stinately excludes  him  from  its  affections.  Oh !  how 
hard  it  is  to  bear  ingratitude.  There  is  nothing  that 
so  easily  provokes  a  good  man.  Yet  how  long  God 
has  borne  it,  and  from  how  many,  and  ingratitude 
the  most  aggravated  too  ;  how  much  from  each  of 
us,  and  oh  !  how  long ;  and  still  his  long-suffering 
is  not  exhausted,  and  he  withholds  not  his  benefits. 
Oh !  my  soul,  forget  not  who  gives,  and  on  whom 
these  benefits  are  conferred  ;  on  guilty  and  thank- 
less men.  Oh  !  miracle  of  grace  !  most  stupendous 
of  the  wonders  of  goodness  !  he  spared  not  his  own 
Son,  but  delivered  him  unto  death,  and  such  a  death 
as  none  other  ever  died,  for  us  and  for  our  salvation. 
Oh  !  my  soul,  whatever  other  benefits  thou  forgettest, 
forget  not  this.  Remember  it  to-day,  and  every  day. 
Lose  sight  of  every  thing,  rather  than  of  the  cross  of 
Christ.  Look  at  it.  gaze  on  it,  and  him  who  hung 
upon  it,  and  think  why  he  hung  upon  it,  and  for 
whom.  Oh  !  reflect  on  the  moral  of  the  cross.  I 
should  be  guilty  of  an  unpardonable  omission,  if,  in 
expatiating  with  you  on  the  goodness  of  God,  I 
should  not  stop  you  here,  before  the  cross,  to  con- 


108 

template  goodness  in  its  divinest  forni;  benevolence 
in  its  most  expensive  and  stupendous  display.  '•'  God 
so  loved  the  vv^orld,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Greater  love  hath 
no  man  than  this,  that  he  lay  down  his  life  for  his 
friends,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  laying  it  down,  were 
his  enemies,  and  who  love  now,  only  because  they 
have  been  first  loved.  Oh  !  this  is  the  goodness  that 
leads  to  repentance  ;  here  it  is  that  the  eye  affects 
the  heart ;  here  gratitude  finds  its  highest  theme,  and, 
in  view  of  this,  let  it  lift  its  loftiest  note,  "  Bless 
the  Lord,  oh !  my  soul,  and,  for  this,  let  all  that  is 
within  me,  bless  his  holy  name." 

"  Bless  the  Lord,  oh  !  my  soul."  The  soul  is  the 
seat  of  gratitude,  and  must  be  the  organ  of  our  praise. 
In  vain  does  the  tongue  sing  and  the  lips  profess,  if, 
in  the  ear  of  God,  the  soul  is  not  vocal  with  his 
praise,  and  all  that  is  within  us,  harmoniously  en- 
gas^ed  in  the  utterance  of  his  great  goodness  :  here  is 
something  that  should  unite  all  the  powers  and  pas- 
sions of  the  soul. 

You  perceive,  hearers,  that  I  have  reminded  you 
upon  but  one  topic  ;  I  have  aimed  at  a  single  object, 
to  call  forth  gratitude  in  view  of  the  divine  good- 
ness ;  but  if  this  be  reached,  every  thing  is 
secured,  if  only  gratitude,  I  mean  not  that  spu- 
rious gratitude  which  floats  occasionally  on  the 
surface  of  the  heart,  but  that  genuine  gratitude  that 
dwells  ever  at  its  centre,  shall  be  brought  into  exer- 
cise, I  will  engage  for  all  the  rest.  The  gratitude  of 
which  I  speak  is  a  Christian  grace,  and  the  graces 


109 


of  the  Spirit  ever  go  in  company.  Where  gratitude 
is,  there  is  love,  going  forth  in  every  direction  and 
leaving  its  benevolent  traces  every  where,  and  there 
is  repentance  with  her  broken  heart  newly  bound  up, 
and  faith  with  her  hand  on  the  head  of  the  victim, 
and  hope  with  her  eagle  eye  gazing  on  glory,  and 
humility,  appareling  the  soul,  and  meekness  with 
her  pitying  eye,  and  pleading  voice,  saying,  "  father, 
forgive  them."  Oh  !  if  gratitude  may  only  be  ex  - 
cited,  it  will  be  enough.  You  will  mourn  over  the 
past.  Can  you  be  thankful,  without  grieving  for  pasfc 
nnthankfulness  ?  And  all  the  resolutions  which  we 
would  have  you  form  in  view  of  the  future  will  be 
formed,  and  formed  in  the  strength  of  the  Most  High, 
One  part  of  the  language  of  gratitude,  as  the  Psalmist 
himself  has  taught  us,  is  "  what  shall  I  render  to  the 
Lord  for  all  his  benefits  ?"  This  desire  to  requite  is 
inseparable  from  gratitude  ;  if  you  are  grateful,  you 
will  feel  it,  and  you  will  ask,  "  what  shall  I  render?" 
''  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do."  What  render ! 
Thy  heart,  thy  whole  heart,  and  every  thing  else  must 
go  with  it,  thy  mind,  thy  strength,  thy  substance,  thy 
influence,  all  will  be  devoted.  What  do!  dost  thou 
ask  ?  His  word  tells  you  what  he  will  have  you  do  : 
"Follow  holiness,  love  not  the  world,  be  not  conform- 
ed to  it,  cease  to  do  evil,  abstain  from  all  appearanco 
of  evil.  Let  your  light  so  shine  that  others  seeing 
your  good  works,  may  glorify  your  father  in  heaven. 
Seek  those  things  which  are  above,  be  instant  in 
prayer,  watch  and  be  sober." 

If  you  are  grateful,  you  will  resolve  to  do  those 
things,  and  will  strive  to  keep  your  resolutions  ;  aad 

10 


110  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

this  year  you  will  be  more  active  and  engaged  in  re* 
ligion,  than  you  have  been  the  last. 

You  feel  something,  you  think  you  are  grateful, 
but  be  not  deceived,  fellow  sinner.  Are  you  (.on- 
trite  ?  Is  your  gratitude  accompanied  with  repent- 
ance? 

You  think  your  soul  blesses  God,  does  it  supremely 
love  him  ?  Are  you  serving  him  ?  Do  you  mean  to 
serve  him  from  this  hour  forth  ?  Do  you  hate  his 
great  enemy,  sin  ?  Are  you  daily  striving  against 
sin,  and  seeking  to  please  God  ?  Oh !  this  is  the 
test. 

Oh  !  sinner,  you  are  not  grateful,  your  soul  does 
not  bless  God.  It  has  never  blessed  him,  you  have 
never  been  grateful,  and  yet  hast  lived  so  long  and 
been  loaded  with  so  many  benefits,  and  now  hast 
just  completed  another  year  of  goodness,  and  art  en- 
tering on  still  another  under  the  most  auspicious  cir- 
cumstances. God  waits  to  be  gracious,  shall  he  wait 
in  vain  ?  Perhaps  this  will  be  the  last  year  of  his 
long  suffering  and  your  trial ;  it  will  be  to  many,  why 
may  it  not  be  to  you  ?  and  if  it  shall,  and  thou  re- 
mainest  unchanged,  whither  wilt  thou  go  ?  If  to 
heaven,  why  art  thou  not  cultivating  the  spirit,  and 
learning  the  song  of  heaven  ?  Why  not  trying 
thy  wing  for  this  upward  flight  ?  Oh  !  how  canst 
thou  go  there,  as  thou  art  ?  Thou  canst  not.  Then 
why  not  change,  why  not  begin  to-day  ? 


SERMON    VIII 


Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway :  and  again  I  say,  rejoice. 
Philippians  vi.  4. 


The  Christian  system  is  in  many,  and  those  its 
most  important  aspects,  perfectly  peculiar.  Of  these 
peculiarities  the  passage  selected  leads  me  to  remark 
on  this,  that  it  not  only  declares  it  to  be  our  privilege 
to  be  happy,  but  makes  it  absolutely  our  duty  to  be 
happy.  We  are  not  merely  authorized  and  allowed  ; 
we  are  commanded  to  be  happy.  The  language  of 
the  text  is  not  permissive,  but  imperative.  The 
Apostle  speaks  in  the  tone  of  authority  and  style  of 
command,  "  Rejoice."  No  other  system  ever  did  or 
durst  do  this  ;  and  perhaps  you  may  think  Chris- 
tianity not  sufficiently  considerate  in  doing  it ;  for 
how,  it  may  be  asked,  can  a  man  be  happy  by  merely 
willing  to  be  so  ?  Who  hath  such  control  over  his  heart 
that  it  shall  rejoice  on  every  occasion  that  he  bids  it? 
and  if  our  ability  goes  not  this  length,  how  should  our 
obligation  ?  It  would  seem  to  argue  an  ignorance  of 
the  constitution  of  human  nature,  to  make  joy  impe- 
rative ;  happy !  says  one,  ah !  I  would  be,  but  I  cannot. 
I  would  obey  that  command,  but  every  fibre  of  my 
heart  aches,  and  its  whole  capacity  is  occupied  with 
sorrow — how  can  I?     This  objection  shall  be  an- 


112!  NEVINS'   SERMONS. 

swered  in  the  progress  of  our  remarks,  when  we  shall 
have  stated  tlie  difficulty  in  all  its  length  and  breadth. 
For,  you  will  observe  that  we  are  commanded  not 
only  to  rejoice,  but  to  rejoice  alway  ;  and,  in  another 
place,  we  are  required  to  rejoice  evermore.  So  that 
it  would  seem  to  be  our  duty  not  only  to  be  happy^ 
but  to  be  uniformly  and  under  all  circumstances 
happy ;  to  rejoice  under  every  aspect  of  Providence, 
in  every  position  of  circumstances,  and  in  every  exi- 
gency of  occasion.  This  some  will  think  a  most 
extravagant  demand,  because  an  impossible  perform- 
ance, and,  indeed,  an  undesirable  attainment;  im- 
possible, since,  cis  it  is  made  our  duty  to  sorrow  on 
some  occasions,  as  well  as  to  rejoice,  it  supposes  joy 
and  sorrow  capable  of  co-existing  in  the  heart  at  the 
same  time ;  and  undesirable,  because  when  circum- 
stances call  for  sorrow,  who  would  rejoice?  We 
can  rejoice  sometimes,  but  to  rejoice  always  is  im- 
possible, and  would  be  cruel.  JIow,  when  the  body- 
is  racked  with  pain,  or  the  mind  distracted  with  care, 
or  the  heart  bleeding  at  its  every  pore,  full  of  deep  and 
fresh-made  wounds,  ho av  then  can  one  rejoice?  or 
when  a  friend  is  suffering,  or  having  just  ceased  to 
suffer,  has  left  us  for  what  seems  to  us  forever,  how 
can  we  be  happy  then  ? 

Having  stated  the  difficulty  in  its  full  force,  I  now 
affirm,  and  shall  attempt  to  show,  that  it  is  our  duty 
to  rejoice,  and  to  rejoice  always.     And  I  remark, 

1.  That  God,  who  requires  rejoicing  of  his  people, 
affords  them  ample  and  sufficient  reason  for  rejoic- 
ing ;  and  hence  the  requirement  is  reasonable,  and 
the  fulfillment  practicable.     It  is  admitted  that  we 


113 

cannot  be  happy,  and,  of  course,  cannot  be  obliged 
to  be,  without  good  cause  for  being  so  ;  but  we  say 
that  the  Christian  has  good  cause  for  being  happy; 
that  in  being  commanded  to  rejoice,  there  is  that 
offered  him  which  is  able  to  make  him  joyful,  and  in 
view  of  which  it  is  entirely  reasonable  that  he  should 
rejoice ;  he  is  not  required  to  rejoice  without  refe- 
rence to  some  cause  of  joy,  without  any  object  to 
rejoice  in ;  nor  is  he  required  to  rejoice  in  an  object 
inadequate  to  make  him  happy.  He  is  not  required 
to  rejoice  simply,  to  rejoice  in  nothing,  nor  to  rejoice 
in  himself ;  there  is  nothing  in  that  object  to  make 
him  happy ;  nor  to  rejoice  in  the  world,  in  its  profit, 
in  its  honors,  in  its  pleasures,  nor  in  all  these  together, 
nor  in  the  intercourse  of  friendship,  the  fellowship 
of  blood  and  the  circle  of  home,  though  these  afford 
a  happiness  not  to  be  despised,  though  fearfully  sub- 
ject to  interruption.  No,  not  in  these ;  but  in  the 
Lord,  in  Jehovah.  "Rejoice  in  the  LordP  This 
is  the  object  in  which  the  soul  is  to  rejoice ;  and  I 
say  that  the  object  is  adapted  and  adequate  to  the 
production  of  joy.  It  is  practicable  to  rejoice  in  him, 
and  we  are  reasonably  required  to  rejoice  in  him. 
That  such  a  being  exists,  a  being  infinite  in  power, 
wisdom,  justice,  goodness,  forbearance  and  mercy,, 
an  absolutely  perfect  being,  and  not  only  exists,  but 
exists  every  where  and  forever,  occupying  all  dura- 
tion and  all  space  ;  and  that  he  not  only  exists,  but 
reigns  absolute,  supreme,  and  universal  sovereign, 
his  providence  reaching  to  all  beings  and  all  events, 
superintending  and  controlling  them,  his  dominion 
comprehending  all  creatures  and  condescending  to 

10* 


114  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

each ;  and  that  such  a  being  not  only  exists  and 
reigns,  but  is  the  Christian's  friend,  his  sworn^ 
pledged,  fast,  bountiful  and  unchangeable  friend, 
ay,  his  father  too,  the  fondest  father,  and  as  wise  as 
fond.  If  this  is  not  enough  to  make  the  heart  happy, 
I  know  not  what  is.  If  one  cannot  rejoice  in  the  ex- 
istence, perfection,  dominion,  and  friendship  of  such 
a  beins:,  in  what  can  he  ?  His  heart  must  be  inca- 
pable  of  the  emotion  of  joy.  Behold  here  is  one 
whose  nature  is  love ;  his  will,  power  ;  his  thought, 
wisdom ;  his  empire,  the  universe  ;  his  duration, 
eternity ;  his  dwelling  place,  immensity,  w^hich  he 
fills  ;  and,  Christian,  he  is  your  friend  ;  he  has  said, 
"  Blessing  I  will  bless  you  ;  all  things  shall  work 
together  for  good  to  you  ;  I  will  never  leave  you  nor 
forsake  you  ;"  and  willing  more  abundantly  to  show 
to  the  heir  of  the  promise  the  immutability  of  his 
counsel,  has  confirmed  it  with  an  oath,  that  by  two 
immutable  things,  in  which  it  is  impossible  for  God 
to  lie,  you,  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on 
the  hope  set  before  you,  might  have  strong  consola- 
tion. Him  you  are  required  to  rejoice  in  ;  is  it  im- 
possible or  unreasonable?  can  you  not  do  it?  ought 
you  not  to  do  it?  You  know  that  no  event  occurs  but 
under  his  eye  and  by  his  permission,  and  that  he  is 
wise  and  good  in  all  that  he  permits,  as  well  as  in  all 
he  eftects,  and  you  know  that  every  thing  which 
affects  you,  shall  ultimately  redound  to  your  good. 
What,  then,  is  wanting  to  make  you  happy?  Can 
you  not  rejoice  in  the  attributes,  government  and 
favor  of  such  a  being  ?  I  know,  not  every  one  can, 
for  while  every  one  can  say,  '<He  exists  and  he 


115 

reigns,"  not  every  one  can  add,  "and  he  is  my  friend." 
The  consideration  that  "the  Lord  reigneth,"  is  a 
reason,  the  Psalmist  tells  us,  why  some  should  trem- 
ble. His  existence  and  sovereignty  without  his 
friendship  cannot  create  joy  in  the  heart.  They  do, 
and  they  should  rather  generate  distress  and  alarm. 
How  can  his  enemies  rejoice  in  him?  And  why 
should  they  ?  The  command  is  not  to  them,  "  re- 
joice," but  first  "be  reconciled."  How  dreadful  it  is, 
that  such  a  being  should  have  enemies,  especially  that 
he  should  have  them  in  a  world  which  he  has  so 
loved,  and  among  men  for  whose  reconciliation  to 
him  he  has  done  so  much,  that  there  should  be  war 
between  him  and  his  creatures,  particularly  this  fa- 
vored family  of  creatures  !  Yet  so  it  is,  however 
stoutly  some  may  deny  it.  And  they  who  are  his 
enemies,  must  not  presume  to  count  upon  him  as 
their  friend,  and  it  were  premature  in  them  to  rejoice 
in  him,  even  if  they  could.  No  pledge  has  he  given 
them,  nor  is  any  promise  theirs. 

2.  My  second  remark  is  that  there  exists  equal 
reason  why  the  Christian  should  rejoice  in  God  at 
all  times,  as  at  any  time.  The  cause  of  his  happi- 
ness is  uniform ;  the  effect  ought,  therefore,  to  be 
uniform.  If  God  ever  ceased  to  exist,  or  to  reign, 
or  to  be  his  friend,  then  he  might  cease  to  re- 
joice, but  not  otherwise.  If  it  is  ever  proper  that  the 
being,  government,  and  favor  of  God  should  give  joy, 
it  IS  proper  that  they  should  communicate  it,  as  long 
as  they  endure,  and  they  endure  always.  It  is  there- 
fore as  reasonable  that  we  should  be  required  to  re- 
joice at  all  times,  as  at  any  time.     Art  thou  pained 


116  NEVINS'     SERMONS. 

in  body,  art  thou  afflicted  in  soul,  hast  thou  been 
bereaved  of  one  greatly  beloved  by  thee,  and  closely 
bound  to  thee  ?  There  are  reasons  why  you  should 
be  sorrowful,  but  the  grand  cause  of  joy  still  remains, 
and  is  unaffected  by  these  causes  of  sorrow.  God 
still  exists,  still  reigns,  and  is  the  same,  and  the  same 
towards  you,  and  why  should  you  not  say  as  in  Ha- 
bakkuk  iii.  17,  18.,  "Although  the  fig  tree  shall  not 
blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  he  in  the  vines  ;  the  labor 
of  the  olive  tree  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield 
no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off"  from  the  fold,  and 
there  shall  he  no  herd  in  the  stalls  :  Yet  I  will  rejoice 
in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation." 
What  though  a  cloud  has  come  between,  it  is  thin? 
and  transient,  and  beyond  it,  nearer  the  throne  'tis 
sunshine,  serene  and  bright.  This  aspect  of  Provi- 
dence is  indeed  dark  and  mysterious,  but  there  is  an- 
other which  is  intelligible  and  clear.  The  set  of  cir- 
cumstances by  which  you  are  immediately  surround- 
ed, may  be  very  sorrowful,  but  there  is  another  con- 
centric circle  of  larger  diameter,  in  which  all  is  joy- 
ous. Does  God  frown,  but  behind  the  frown,  more 
strongly  marked  than  it,  and  visible  through  it,  be- 
hold the  smile  ineffable.  What  if  the  present  is  sad^ 
the  future  is  fair  ;  if  thou  hast  not  much  good  in  pos- 
session, yet  thou  hast  much  in  prospect ;  and  thou 
hast  hope,  if  thou  hast  nothing  else  to  cheer  and  keep 
thee  up  ;  glorious  is  the  object  of  that  hope,  firm  its 
foundation,  pure  its  spirit,  and  the  possession  is  not 
distant.  Behold  how  near  is  heaven,  and  the  vision 
of  the  king  in  his  beauty.  One  short  step  and  thou  art 
at  home  with  Christ  forever ;  one  dark  hour,  and  ever 


117 

after  that,  no  night ;  one  sharp  pang,  then  pain  no  more; 
one  more  moan,  and  then  it  is  all  song  ;  a  conflict 
brief,  though  it  may  be  fierce,  and  then  the  field  and 
the  day  are  yours ;  the  field  heaven,  and  the  day  eter- 
nity. Am  I  prophesying  of  you  ?  And  can  yon,  should 
you  not  rejoice  ?  1  know  as  you  move  along  the  path 
of  life,  many  ills  await  you  and  numerous  causes  of 
sorrow  occur,  and  far  am  I  from  wishing  that  you 
phould  not  be  sorrowfully  affected  by  them?  They 
are  intended  so  to  affect  you,  and  their  usefulness 
depends  on  their  so  affecting  you.  It  were  both  un- 
natural and  undutiful  not  to  grieve  sometimes,  ay, 
and  deeply  too.  I  would  only  wish  you  to  be  affect- 
ed also  by  the  causes  of  rejoicing  which  co-exist  with 
these  causes  of  sorrow.  I  would  have  you  rejoice  in 
God,  if  in  nothing  else  you  can.  If  disappointed  in 
one  respect,  I  would  have  you  feel  that  in  another 
and  far  more  important  respect,  disappointment  is 
impossible  to  you.  Many  hopes  may  wither  and 
die,  but  there  is  one  that  no  blight  shall  come  over  ; 
many  flattering  prospects  may  be  obscured,  but  there 
is  one  prospect,  bright  and  boundless,  bright  as  the 
light  of  heaven,  boundless  as  the  eternity  of  God, 
which  no  darknes  shall  ever  settle  upon.  Rejoice  in 
this,  while  on  other  accounts  you  can  but  2:rieve ; 
for, 

3.  1  remark  that  joy  and  sorrow  in  the  same  heart 
and  at  the  same  time  are  perfectly  compatible.  They 
cannot  both  predominate  together,  but  co-exist  they 
can,  and  do.  There  may  exist  contemporaneously 
reasons  for  both  sorrow  and  joy,  and  indeed  in  the  ter- 
restrial history  of  every  Christian  they  do  both  always 


118  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

exist ;  and  if  the  cause  can  co-exist  externally,  the 
effects  can  internally.  Paul  realized  this  union,  "as 
sorrowful,"  he  says,  "  yet  always  rejoicing."  When 
we  are  commanded  to  rejoice  always^  it  is  not  meant 
that  we  should  rejoice  only.  Obedience  to  that  com- 
mand would  be  impracticable,  but  the  meaning  is 
that  we  should  never  be  so  sorrowfully  affected  by 
the  causes  of  sorrow,  as  not  to  be  joyfully  affected  by 
the  causes  of  rejoicing,  that  the  heart  should  not  be 
given  up  to  the  exclusive  occupancy  of  the  former, 
that  in  all  our  sorrows  joy  should  mingle,  and  min- 
gle in  such  measure,  as  not  only  to  dilute  the  sorrow, 
but  to  give  its  own  character  to  the  mixture,  the  joy 
predominatin2f  over  the  sorrow,  so  that  the  subject 
of  them  shall  be,  on  the  whole,  a  happy  man  while 
on  many  accounts  he  is  and  cannot  but  be  miserable. 
''He  is  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed." 

4.  I  remark  again  that  in  the  case  of  the  Christian 
the  causes  of  joy  always  predominate  over  those  of 
sorrow.  Whatever  reasons  may  exist  why  he  should 
be  unhappy,  greater  and  stronger  reasons  exist  why 
he  should  be  happy.  Not  so  with  the  sinner,  but  the 
contrary.  It  is  right,  therefore,  that  he  should  be 
more  joyful,  than  sorrowful,  or  in  other  words,  that 
he  should  on  the  whole  rejoice.  A  Christian  may 
lose  a  part  of  his  possessions,  and  on  that  account  be 
called  upon  to  grieve,  but  the  larger  part,  that  which 
properly  constitutes  his  portion,  he  cannot  lose.  He 
always  retains  much  more  than  can  be  taken  from 
him.  Of  friends  near  and  dear  he  may  be  be- 
reaved, but  never  of  the  one  that  above  all  others 
best  deserves  the  name  of  friend,  the  friend  that  stick- 


NEVINS'     SERMONS.  119 

eth  closer  than  a  brother.  The  common  resources 
of  men  may  fail  him,  but  there  is  one  resource  ampler 
than  all  of  these,  which  he  cannot  exhaust,  and  none 
can  take  away  from  him.  He  may  become  an  or- 
phan, yet  still  he  has  a  father  kinder  and  abler  than 
all  human  parents  ;  he,may  be  houseless,  nevertheless 
he  has  a  home  in  heaven,  and  though  cast  off  of 
man,  he  has  still  a  refuge  in  God.  Yes,  after  all  his 
reverses  and  losses  and  disappointments,  God  remains 
to  him.  God,  the  proprietor  of  all  worlds,  the  source 
of  all  joy,  the  author  of  all  good,  God  is  his  in  cove- 
nant and  by  promise ;  and  this  single  cause  of  joy 
surpasses  infinitely  all  the  united  causes  of  sorrow. 
And  there  is  one  more  remark  I  must  not  omit. 

5.  It  is  that  the  very  sorrows  of  the  Christian  are 
to  be  rejoiced  in.  Among  the  causes  of  his  joy  are 
his  very  griefs.  They  work  for  him  a  far  more  ex- 
ceeding and  an  eternal  weight  of  glory ;  and  may 
not  a  man  congratulate  himself  on  that  which  has 
this  operation  ?  They  contribute  to  the  increase  of 
holiness  in  his  heart,  they  imbitter  sin,  they  wean 
him  from  the  world,  and  is  it  not  reasonable  that  one 
should  rejoice  in  those  things  which  prove  the  means 
of  his  sanctification  ?  True,  one  cannot  rejoice  in 
sorrow  as  such  ;  but  if  they  that  sow  in  tears,  shall 
reap  in  joy,  may  not  the  husbandman,  in  the  pros- 
pect of  such  a  harvest,  rejoice  even  while  he  goeth 
forth  weeping.  The  Apostle  Paul,  had  learned  the 
heavenly  art  of  converting  his  sorrows  into  subjects 
of  rejoicing,  for,  having  said,  "  We  rejoice  in  the 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God,"  he  adds,  "  and  not  only 
so,  but  we  glory  also  in  tribulation ;"   that  is,  we 


120 


rejoice  in  sorrow,  and  then  assigns  for  it  this  most 
satisfactory  reason,  "knowing  that  tribulation  work- 
eth  patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  expe- 
rience hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed  ;''  he 
rejoiced  in  it,  in  consideration  of  its  effects.  And 
David  speaks  of  affliction  as  something  promised, 
not  threatened,  and  as,  therefore  not  an  evil,  but 
a  good,  for  he  says,  "  I  know  that  thou  in  faithful- 
ness hast  afflicted  me." 

If,  then,  to  the  Christian  there  be  abundant  cause 
for  joy,  and  equal  cause  why  he  should  rejoice  at 
one  time,  as  at  another  ;  if  joy  and  sorrow  are  com- 
patible, and  the  causes  of  joy  always  transcend  those 
of  sorrow,  and  the  Christian's  very  sorrows  are 
grounds  of  rejoicing,  is  it  not  practicable,  and  rea- 
sonable, and  obhgatory,  that  he  should  rejoice  always? 

I  am  aware  that  uniform  rejoicing  is  not  his  attain- 
ment ;  but  it  is  not  on  that  account,  any  the  less,  his 
privilege  and  his  duty.  He  does  not  always  rejoice, 
because  the  causes  of  sorrow  are  near,  while  those 
of  joy  are  more  remote  ;  the  former  are  sensible  ; 
the  latter  are  spiritual.  He  is  quick  of  sight  to  see, 
but  slow  of  heart  to  believe ;  he  is  keenly  alive  to 
impressions  from  this  world,  but  dull  to  receive  those 
which  come  from  the  world  which  is  invisible  and 
future.  Moreover,  though  he  is  certain  that  God 
exists  and  reigns,  he  is  not  always  so  certain  that 
God  is  his  friend.  He  has  not  an  abiding  assurance 
of  the  divine  favor.  Yet  this  he  should  have,  and 
then  he  will  be  able  to  rejoice  always  in  the  Lord. 

I  exhort  you,  Christians,  to  the  exercise  of  this 
privilege,  yea,  to  the  performance  of  this  duty.     I 


121 

•beseech  you,  God  commands  you  to  be  happy.     He 
has  laid  a  foundation  for  your  happiness,  soUd  and 
broad.     You  may  build  upon  it  without  fear ;  and 
a^  many  as  please  may  build  upon  it. 
Hear  now  a  few  inferences. 

1.  If  it  is  our  duty  to  be  happy,  then  it  is  a  sin  to 
be  miserable.  We  are  apt  to  think  that  our  being  sad 
and  sorrowful  is  pleasing  to  God ;  that  our  volun- 
tary wretchedness  recommends  us  to  him,  but  it  is 
not  so.  And  men  have  been  prone  to  suppose,  that 
self-inflicted  sufferings  are  meritorious  in  his  sight ; 
but  it  is  by  no  means  the  case.  He  is  pleased  when 
his  will  is  done  ;  and  it  is  his  will  that  we  should 
rejoice.  It  is  his  pleasure  that  we  should  be  happy. 
Infer  not,  however,  that  it  is  a  sin  to  be  serious ;  nor 
confound  happiness  with  merriment. 

2.  How  grossly  they  misrepresent  the  religion  of 
the  Bible,  who  speak  of  it  as  a  gloomy  thing.  What ! 
a  gloomy  thing  !  a  religion  which  not  only  permits, 
but  commands  its  subjects  to  rejoice  ?  What !  has 
that  a  tendency  to  make  one  miserable,  which,  afford- 
ing him  ample  means  of  being  happy,  absolutely 
requires  him  to  be  so  ?  A  gloomy  thing  !  that  which 
diffuses  through  the  soul  a  peace,  divinely  serene 
that  passeth  understanding,  and  originates  in  the 
heart  a  hope  full  of  immortality,  and  conciliates 
death,  and  dissipates  the  darkness  of  the  grave,  and 
reveals  a  smiling  God?  The  religion  of  the  Bible 
inimical  to  human  happiness !  A  wilder  raving  was 
never  uttered  in  Bedlam ;  a  fouler  falsehood  never 
came  up  from  Tophet ;  and  yet  many  under  this 
impression  concerning  it,  eschew  and  deprecate  iu 

11 


122  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

And  some  parents  carefully  preserve  their  children 
from  what  they  seem  to  esteem,  its  contagion,  lest  it 
should  drive  them  to  melancholy ;  would  have  them 
make  no  preparation  for  dying,  lest  that  should  ren- 
der them  unfit  for  living. 

Ah,  my  hearers,  it  is  not  religion  that  makes  men 
unhappy ;  or,  if  it  is,  it  is  not  the  religion  of  the 
Bible,  made  the  religion  of  the  heart.  I  can  never 
beheve  that  it  is  in  the  love  of  God,  or  the  hope  of 
heaven  to  make  one  unhappy.  It  is  the  want  of  re- 
ligion that  makes  men  unhappy  ;  or  it  is  a  false  view 
of  religion  ;  or  it  is  indecision  and  doubt  in  religion. 

3.  We  learn  from  this  subject  what  it  is  that 
makes  the  human  soul  happy.  It  is  not  the  world. 
One  may  awhile  rejoice  in  that,  but  he  cannot  al- 
ways ;  he  will  not  always  have  it.  He  is  passing 
over  it,  and  it  is  passing  away.  No  ;  it  is  not  the 
world.  And  yet  how  many  of  you  have  nothing 
else  to  rejoice  in.  Ah!  what  will  you  do  when 
called  to  part  from  it  ?  It  is  the  Lord.  He  is  happy, 
who  can  call  him  his  ? 

4.  If  God  alone  can  make  his  creatures  happy, 
what  madness  it  is  to  live  in  ignorance  of  him,  or  in 
estrangement  from  him.  Then  "  acquaint  thyself 
with  him ;"  "  return  unto  him." 

I  cannot  ask  the  sinner  to  rejoice,  because  he 
has  no  object  to  rejoice  in  ;  and  the  reasons  why  he 
should  sorrow  prevail  over  the  others. 

This  subject  reveals  the  misery  of  sinners.  They 
can't  rejoice  in  God ;  and  there  is  nothing  else  one 
can  permanently  rejoice  in. 

I  pity  him  who  has  no  God  to  rejoice  in.     Though 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  123 

full  of  riches,  laden  with  honors,  brilliant  in  beauty, 
and  having,  all  of  this  world  that  the  heart  can  hold, 
I  do  not  envy,  I  pity  him.  I  think  how  soon  he  will 
be  poor,  and  how  melancholy  a  day  death  will  be 
to  him. 


SERMON   IX. 

\^e  ought  to  obey  God. — Acts  v,  29. 


The  proposition  which  I  am  about  to  announce 
as  my  text  is  one  to  whose  truth  I  am  confident  of 
an  unanimous  assent,  and  you  maybe  surprised,  when 
you  hear  it,  that  a  proposition  so  unhesitatingly  ad- 
mitted by  all,  and  which  moreover  is  supposed  to  be 
perfectly  understood  by  every  one,  should  have  been 
selected  by  me,  to  be  the  subject  of  particular  remark 
on  this  occasion.  "  We  ought  to  obey  God."  Yes,  yes, 
most  certainly,  is  the  universal  response,  from  every 
judgment,  and  conscience,  and  heart ;  and  it  is  immedi- 
ate, as  well  as  universal.  There  is  no  time  required  for 
considering  the  proposition.  It  is  a  truth  seen  by 
intuition.  If  there  be  a  God,  and  he  has  any  will 
respecting  our  conduct,  and  there  is  any  way  of  com- 
ing at  his  will,  we  ought  to  obey  him.  It  is  reason- 
able, right,  fit,  obligatory ;  it  is  the  first  and  most 
sacred  of  obligations.  We  owe  him  obedience  on 
every  account.  He  is  our  Maker  and  proprietor  and 
benefactor,  and  a  being  infinitely  perfect,  incapable 
of  willing  any  thing  inconsistent  with  the  strictest 
rectitude.  We  ought  to  obey  him.  Ought  we ! 
Then  why  have  we  disobeyed  him,  and  not  through 
ignorance,  inadvertence,  or  infirmity,  but  knowingly. 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  125 

deliberately,  willingly  ?  We  always  were  aware  of 
this  obligation.  And  why  are  so  many  of  us  diso- 
beying him  now,  disobeying  him  in  so  many  respects, 
in  such  a  multitude  of  instances,  in  the  face  of  so 
much  moral  light,  in  opposition  to  our  clearest  and 
strongest  convictions  of  duty,  and  against  such  a 
weight  of  motive,  and  with  so  little  concern  too  ? 
Why  do  we  tread  so  heavily  and  trample  so  contu- 
maciously on  an  obligation  which  we  confess  to  be  so 
sacred  ?  Ought  we  to  obey  God  ?  Do  you  admit 
it  ?  Then  out  of  thy  own  mouth  will  he  judge  thee, 
and  on  thine  own  admission  condemn  thee.  You  say 
that  you  ought  to  obey  God,  and  you  speak  sincerely ; 
you  believe  it ;  it  is  the  decision  of  your  reason  ;  it  is 
one  of  the  plainest  dictates  of  common  sense,  and  yet 
you  do  not  obey  him ;  nor  care  to  obey  him ;  you  are 
neither  curious  to  know,  nor  careful  to  do  his  will. 
But  perhaps  you  think  that  you  are  rendering  obedi- 
ence to  God.  Many,  I  am  persuaded,  think  they  are, 
when  in  fact  they  are  not,  and  it  is  principally  to  ex- 
pose and  correct  this  practical  error,  that  I  have  de- 
termined on  this  passage  for  my  text.  I  propose  to 
show  you  what  that  is,  which  God  esteems  and  ac- 
cepts as  obedience  to  him ;  and  you  will  perceive 
that  in  not  a  few  particulars  it  is  distinguished  from 
that  which  frequently  passes  among  men  for  obedi- 
ence. 

2.  The  mere  doing  of  what  he  commands  us  to  do- 
does not  constitute  obedience  to  him,  unless  we  also 
abstain  from  what  he  forbids  us  to  do.  Negative 
precepts,  that  is,  those  which  prohibit,  are  as  obliga- 
tory, and  as  essential  to  constitute  obedieace,  as  posi- 


126  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

tive  precepts,  which  enjoin  something  to  be  done. 
The  remark  is  so  obviously  correct,  that  it  may  seerrt 
superfluous  to  have  made  it,  as  it  is  certainly  unne- 
cessary  to  dwell  upon  it.     I  remark, 

2.  That  obedience  to  be  acceptable  must  be  uni- 
versal.    It  must  not  only  have  respect  to  what  is  for- 
bidden, as  well  as  what  is  required,  but  it  must  have 
respect  to  all  that  is  forbidden  and  all  that  is  required. 
No  principle  is  more  manifestly  scriptural,  none  more 
entirely  reasonable.     If  we  ought  to  obey  God  in  any 
respect;  we  ought  to  obey  him  in  every  respect.  The 
same  reasons  exist  why  we  should  be  conformed  to 
the  whole  will,  as  to  any  part  of  the  will  of  God. 
Every  part  of  his  will  is   of  equal  authority,  and 
equally  wise  and  just.     If  therefore  any  one  habitu- 
ally and  intelligently  disobeys  God  in  any  respect, 
he  forfeits  the  character  of  obedience  ;  and  hence  it 
is  written,  "  cursed  is  every  one  who  continueth  not 
in  all  things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do 
them."     And  does  not  this  remark  convict  many  ? 
Do  you  not  habitually  neglect  some  known  duty,  or 
at  least  something  which  might  be  known,  and  would 
be  perceived  to  be  a  duty,  but  that  you  shut  your 
eyes  against  the  light  1     Axe  you  not  habitually  liv- 
ing, and  allowing  yourself  in  the  practice  of  some 
known  sin  ? 

3.  The  acting  and  refraining  to  act  in  all  respects 
in  conformity  to  the  requirements  and  prohibitions  of 
God,  does  not  necessarily  constitute  obedience  to  God. 
It  does  not,  unless  it  be  not  only  done,  but  done  out 
of  regard  to  God.  This  is  a  very  important  principle 
jLo  be  regarded  by  you.     To  obey  God,  is  not  simply 


NEVINS'   SERMONS.  127 

to  act  according  to  his  will,  but  to  act  according  to 
his  will,  because  it  is  his  will.     An  accidental  con- 
formity of  the  will  of  man  to  the  will  of  God  is  not 
obedience.     It  must  be  intentional.     There  is  recti- 
tude in  the  conformity  of  the  will  of  man  to  the  will 
of  God,  whether  it  be  intentional  or  unintentional, 
but  obedience  exists  not  unless   the  conformity  be 
intentional.     There   is  a  difference  between  doing 
right  and  obeying  God.    I  speak  of  the  external  part  of 
right  doing.     To  sin  is  much  more  than  to  do  wrong- 
An  atheist  may  do  some  things   which  the  law  of 
God  requires,  but  you  would  not  therefore  say  that 
he  obeys  God,  for  he  does  not  even  acknowledge  that 
there  is  a  God.     A  man  may  do  some  things  which 
the  law  of  God  requires,  without  knowing  that  the 
law  of  God  requires  them.     This  man  acts  right,  so 
far  at  least  as  his  external  conduct  is  concerned,  but 
he  does  not  obey  God,  nor  intend  to  obey  him.     One 
cannot  obey  God  without  knowing  that  he  obeys 
him,  without  having  in  his  mind  a  regard  to  God. 
There  is  another  case  still.     A  man  may  do  some 
things  which  the  law  of  God  requires,  knowing  that 
the  law  of  God  requires  them,  and  yet  not  do  them 
because  the  law  of  God  requires  them,  but  from  some 
other  and  inferior  consideration,  as   because  some 
inferior  authority  commands  them,  a  legislature,  or  a 
parent,  or  a  master,  or  because  his  interest,  his  honor, 
or  his  credit  requires  they  should  be  done,  or  the 
welfare    of  the  community.      Thus,  for   example, 
all  the    respect   which    some   persons   pay  to   the 
Christian   Sabbath  is  on  account  of  the  acknow- 
ledged utility  of  that  institution,  not  from  any  regard 


128  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

to  the  author  of  the  decalogue.  And  some  are  scru- 
pulously honest  in  their  dealings,  because  dishonesty 
is  disgraceful,  or  from  a  better  motive,  an  inherent 
principle  of  integrity,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
act  uprightly  in  cases  in  which  detection  and  expo- 
sure are  impossible.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  wrong  to 
be  influenced  by  such  considerations,  especially  if 
they  stand  in  subordination  to  the  authority  of  the 
Supreme  Lawgiver,  but  I  do  say  that  unless  the  pri- 
mary and  principal  consideration  with  us  be  a  regard 
to  God,  not  any  thing  we  do  should  be  accounted  as 
obedience  to  him.  And  this  is  no  novel  and  strange 
principle.  The  very  same  elements  go  into  the  con- 
stitution of  filial  obedience.  A  dutiful  son  is  one  who 
intentionally  conforms  to  the  will  of  his  parent,  who 
does  what  his  parent  instructs  him  to  do,  not  because 
it  falls  in  with  his  own  inclination,  or  because  he  is 
to  gain  any  thing  by  it,  but  out  of  regard  to  the  will 
and  command  of  his  parent. 

It  is  apparent  then  that  there  may  be  a  great  deal 
of  virtue  and  morality  and  right  acting  among  men, 
at  the  same  time  that  there  is  no  obedience  to  God  in 
it  all,  because,  though  there  may  be  an  acknowledge- 
ment of  God,  and  an  acquaintance  with  his  laws,  yet 
regard  to  him  and  to  his  law  is  not  the  reason  of  the 
conduct  in  question.  Now  a  man  may  not  rely  for 
acceptance  with  God  on  any  right  course  of  acting, 
even  though  regard  for  God  should  be  the  motive  of 
it.  How  much  less  may  it  be  relied  on,  when  this  is 
not  the  motive,  and  when  it  does  not  constitute  obe- 
dience to  God.  And  yet  is  not  this  the  dependence 
of  multitudes? 


NEVINS'   SERMONS.  129 

4.  I  proceed  now  to  make  another  distinction, 
which,  I  am  certain,  is  both  just  and  important, 
though  it  should  seem  to  some  of  you  to  be  rather 
nice.  A  doing  according  to  God's  will,  out  of  a  re- 
gard to  God,  does  not  alone  contribute  obedience  to 
him.  Whether  it  be  obedience  or  not,  depends  on 
the  nature  of  the  regard  that  is  had  to  him.  The 
regard  may  be  servile.  A  man,  knowing  the  will  of 
God,  may  act  in  conformity  to  it  from  the  mere 
dread  of  the  effects  of  his  displeasure,  should  he 
not,  and  he  may  be  conscious  that  but  for  this  fear, 
he  would  act  differently.  Now  that  is  not  such 
obedience  as  God  esteems  and  accepts ;  it  is  not  such 
as  angels  render ;  it  is  not  such  as  saints  render. 
But,  again,  the  regard  may  be  mercenary.  The 
expectation  of  reward  may  be  the  paramount  motive. 
Now  it  is  right  to  have  respect  to  the  recompense  of 
reward,  and  to  that  of  punishment  too.  God's  prom- 
ises and  threatenings  are  both  intended  to  influence 
us  ;  but  these  must  not  be  the  only,  nor  yet  the  main 
considerations.  The  regard  that  is  had  to  God  in 
all  acceptable  obedience,  I  know  not  how  better  to 
describe  than  by  saying  it  is  the  union  of  respect 
and  love.  It  is  the  very  same  kind  of  regard  which 
a  dutiful  child  has  to  a  parent.  It  is  not  servile^ 
though  the  child  certainly  dreads  his  parents'  displea- 
sure, nor  mercenary^  though  he  hopes  for  the  tokens 
of  his  parents'  approbation  ;  but  it  is  ingenuous,  and 
affectionate,  and  disinterested  ;  he  would  obey,  what- 
ever loss  he  should  sustain  thereby,  and  whatever 
evil  incur.  His  regard  is  both  fond  and  reverential ; 
he  loves,  and  he  feels  a  sort  of  moral  incapacity  to 


130 


disobey  one  he  loves  ;  he  venerates,  as  well  as  loves ; 
and  he  feels  that  there  would  be  something  most 
unworthy  and  unnatural,  in  contravening  his  com- 
mands and  trifling  with  his  will. 

5.  Obedience,  to  be  acceptable,  must  be  internal^ 
as  well  as  external.  Obedience  does  not  consist  in 
any  thing  external.  External  actions  are  really  but 
tlie  expression  of  obedience.  It  has  its  seat  in  the 
soul ;  it  is  a  predicate  of  the  soul ;  it  originates  with 
the  heart ;  it  can  originate  no  where  else.  In  what 
is  the  law  of  God  summarily  comprehended  but  in  a 
two-fold  exercise  of  the  heart?  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  These  are  the  two  great  and  kindred 
commandments ;  and  hence  God,  in  making  inqui- 
sition for  obedience,  looks  to  the  heart,  the  seat  of 
obedience,  and,  if  he  does  not  find  it  there,  he  does 
not  and  cannot  find  it  any  where.  Consequently,  if 
any  of  you  do  not  love  God  with  all  the  heart,  and 
your  neighbor  as  yourself,  it  is  as  manifest  as  any 
thing  can  be  that  you  do  not  obey  God ;  and  all  your 
pious,  honest,  and  charitable  acts  must,  in  his  ac- 
count, pass  for  nothing.  Whatever  they  are,  they 
are  not  the  expressions  of  love,  the  obedience  of  the 
heart. 

6.  Constancy  is  another  quality  of   acceptable 
•obedience.     It  must  be  habitual  and  uniform,  not 

occasional  and  interrupted.  There  exist  the  same 
imperative  reasons  why  God  should  be  obeyed  at  all 
times,  as  at  any  time  ;  and  that  regard  for  him,  which 
is  essential  to  true  obedience,  has  equal  reference  to 
all  his  laws,  and  exists  as  a  permanent  and  fixed 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  131 

principle,  operative  at  all  times.  The  love  of  God, 
tjie  principle  and  essence  of  obedience,  is  not  a  fitful 
and  feverish  excitement,  but  a  regular,  uniform,  and 
healthful  pulsation. 

7.  It  is  necessary  to  the  acceptableness  of  obe- 
dience, that  it  should  be  imconditional.  We  ought 
to  obey  God,  whatever  the  difficulty  of  the  command, 
the  circumstances  under  which  obedience  is  required, 
and  whatever  may  be  the  consequences  of  obeying. 
The  obligation  is  absolute  and  immutable.  There 
is  no  power  of  dispensation.  No  matter  what  the 
inconvenience,  the  loss,  the  suffering,  the  disgrace, 
God  must  be  obeyed.  It  is  one  characteristic  of  him 
that  shall  abide  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  that 
he  sweareth  to  his  own  hurt,  and  changeth  not. 
And  yet  how  many  exceptions  are  taken  on  the 
mere  score  of  inconvenience.  "  It  is  my  principle 
to  sanctify  the  Sabbath  ;  but  it  is  not  convenient  to 
do  so  to-day,"  and  the  man  thinks  himself  released. 
He  is  on  a  journey  ;  he  wants  to  reach  home ;  or, 
he  has  good  company  ;  or,  his  business  is  urgent ;  and 
it  is  on  this  principle,  and  not  that  they  would  muti- 
late the  decalogue,  that  many  object'  to  any  alteration 
m  the  laws  which  regulate  the  transportation  and 
opening  of  the  mail,  the  inconvenience  of  the  thing. 
And  must  the  laws  of  the  great  and  dreadful  God, 
whose  majesty  is  such  that  all  nations  are  before 
him  as  nothing,  bend  to  human  convenience  ?  Say 
that  it  is  not  a  law,  or  that  it  has  ceased  to  be  obli- 
gatory ;  but,  admitting  its  right  to  the  place  it  occu- 
pies in  that  irrepealable  code,  think  not  to  annul  its 
obligation  by  the  plea  of  inconvenience.     What !  is 


132  NEVINS^  SERMONS. 

it  our  duty  to  obey  God  only  when  it  is  convenient 
and  agreeable,  or  when  it  does  not  seem  to  inter* 
fere  with  any  of  our  secular  interests  ?  What  a 
principle !  and  yet,  though  I  know  not  that  any  one 
avows  it,  how  many  act  upon  it ! 

8.  Obedience  to  God  behooves  to  be  supreme  and 
'primary^  and  not  subordinate  and  secondary.  It  is 
due  not  merely  when  no  other  authority  interferes 
with  it,  but  though  all  other  authority  should  oppose 
it.  This  obligation  takes  the  precedence  of  every 
other.  They  must  bend  to  it.  It  will  bend  to  none. 
Whoever  is  disobeyed,  God  must  be  obe^^ed.  Who- 
ever be  offended,  he  must  not  be.  We  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  man  ;  no  matter  what  relations  may 
subsist  between  us  and  others.  The  servant  owes 
obedience  to  his  master,  and  the  child  to  his  parent, 
but  they  and  all,  by  a  superior  and  more  sacred  obli- 
gation, owe  obedience  to  God.  He  is  the  father  of 
our  spirits  ;  he  is  our  supreme  master. 

It  is  a  fond  opinion,  with  many,  that  under  a  pop- 
ular government  the  representative  is,  in  all  cases, 
bound  by  the  will  of  his  constituents ;  and  no  excep- 
tion is  made  even  for  the  case  which  involves  a  vio- 
lation of  the  law  of  God.  That  this  obligation  does 
exist,  in  many  cases,  is  certain ;  that  it  exists  in  every 
case,  but  one,  may  be  true.  I  decide  not,  (for  I  med- 
dle with  politics  only  so  far  as  they  cover  the  path 
of  morals ;  then  they  come  on  my  ground ;)  but  there 
is  one  case  in  which  the  obligation  does  not  exist. 
A  man  may  not  do  what,  in  his  conscience,  he  be- 
lieves to  be  morally  wrong  in  obedience  to  any  will, 
however  loud  and  strong  be  the  expression  of  it.    It 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  133 

is  no  valid  plea  that  he  represents  and  acts  for  others. 
Personal  responsibility  cannot  be  so  merged  in  that 
which  is  official.  How  true  religion  exalts  and  dig- 
nifies human  nature  !  It  is  the  only  principle  of  true 
indubitable  courage. 

9.  God  must  be  obeyed  immediately ;  without 
hesitation  or  delay ;  as  soon  as  the  order  is  received 
and  it  is  ascertained  to  be  from  him  ;  there  is  noth- 
ing then  to  wait  for.  Delay  is  disobedience,  even 
though  it  should  be  accompanied  with  the  determin- 
ation to  obey  hereafter.  Many,  who  admit  the  obli- 
gation to  obey  God,  have  done  nothing  as  yet  but 
meditate  and  purpose  obedience.  They  mean  to 
repent,  and  they  mean  to  serve  God.  Why  do  they 
not  then?  Is  God's  law  fulfilled  by  good  resolutions 
and  dutiful  purposes  ? 

10.  Obedience  to  God  must  be  unquestioning. 
We  have  no  right  to  ask  the  reason  of  his  commands, 
or  their  utility.  It  is  enough  that  he  commands.  1 
was  reading  the  other  day  an  account  of  the  answers 
given  by  some  little  Sunday  school  girls,  who  were 
questioned  in  reference  to  the  petition,  "  Thy  will  be 
done."  What  is  to  be  done?  ''God's  will,"  they 
replied.  Where  ?  "  On  earth."  How  ?  "  As  it  is  in 
heaven."  And  how  do  angels  in  heaven  do  it? 
"  They  do  it  immediately,"  said  one  ;  "actively,"  said 
another  ;  "  unitedly,"  replied  a  third  ;  and  then  there 
was  a  pause,  when  one  little  girl  arose  and  said, 
"  why,  sir,  they  do  it  without  asking  any  questions." 
What  an  interesting  developement  of  mind.  Oh ! 
when  shall  the  will  of  God  be  thus  done  on  earth. 
Oh  !  when  shall  the  charge  of  unreasonableness  and 

12 


134  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

inutility,  or  at  least  of  the  want  of  manifest  reason- 
ableness and  utility,  cease  to  be  brought  against  the 
legislature  of  heaven.  Vain,  presumptuous  man  must 
know  why  he  should  do  this  and  that,  and  what  is 
the  use  of  doing  it,  before  he  will  put  hand  to  do  it, 
though  God  commands  him  to  do  it. 

11.  Obedience  involves  submission.  He  that  is 
obedient  to  God's  preceptive  will,  will  be  also  sub- 
missive to  his  providential  will.  The  reasons  of 
obedience  and  submission  are  the  same.  It  is  the 
Lord,  therefore  let  him  do.  as  well  as  command  to  be 
done  what  seemeth  him  good.  "  Thy  will  be  done," 
means  "be  thy  purposes  accomplished,  as  well  £is  be 
thy  commands  obeyed." 

12.  /Sl?iless?iess  is  not  necessary  to  obedience  to 
God.  It  is  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  obedience, 
but  not  to  its  reality ;  but  though  actual  and  entire 
freedom  from  sin  be  not  indispensable  to  the  existence 
of  the  character  we  have  been  describing,  yet  the 
desire  and  prayer,  and  aim  and  effort,  and  struggle 
to  be  free  from  it,  is. 

I  have  told  you  what  it  is  to  obey  God,  and  now 
what  I  have  said  I  wish  to  be  used  for  the  two-fold 
purpose  of  conviction  and  examination. 

My  hearers  you  have  not  obeyed  God.  I  bring 
this  heavy  charge  against  you.  You  have  trampled 
Tipon  the  rights  of  Jehovah  :  you  have  disregarded 
an  admitted  and  most  sacred  obligation  ;  you  have 
not  done  what  you  confess  you  ought  to  have  done  : 
the  law,  holy,  just  and  good,  of  the  great  and  glori- 
ous God,  your  maker,  master,  parent  and  benefactor 
you  have  broken  ;  nor  once  merely,  but  times  liter- 


135 

ally  innumerable,  and  under  circumstances  the  most 
aggravating,  in  opposition  to  motives  the  most  con- 
straining, under  light  the  most  brilliant,  though  ad- 
monished and  threatened,  though  entreated  and  ex- 
postulated with,  and  dealt  with  in  judgment  and 
mercy  both ;  nor  have  you  disobeyed  his  law  merely, 
but  refused  obedience  to  the  Gospel  of  his  grace. 
You  see,  you  cannot  help  seeing,  that  you  are  sin- 
ners, and  to  how  fearful  an  extent  you  have  gone  in 
sin ;  and  in  the  light  of  this  same  subject  you  may 
see  the  great  evil  of  sin.  It  is,  indeed,  no  trifle  ;  no- 
light  and  ludicrous  matter.  I  know  mankind  regard 
and  treat  it  as  such,  but  in  this  they  manifest  equal 
stupidity,  as  impiety.  It  is  to  trample  on  the  most 
sacred  obligations,  to  disregard  the  most  holy  claims, 
it  is  to  offend  and  oppose  the  greatest  and  best 
of  beings.  Is  that  a  trifle  ?  It  is  rebellion  against 
the  most  rightful  of  sovereigns,  unnatural  con- 
duct towards  the  most  affectionate  and  attentive  of 
parents,  and  an  ungrateful  treating  of  the  kindest  of 
benefactors.  Is  that  a  trifle  ?  Is  it  not  a  transcen- 
dant  evil  ?  Ought  it  not  deeply  to  affect  him  who  has 
done  it?  It  must,  unless  he  be  without  heart.  Let 
it  then  affect  you,  that  you  have  done  it ;  that  you 
have  disobeyed  the  great  God,  your  God,  to  whom 
you  are  so  entirely  beholden  and  so  largely  indebted. 
Let  it  fill  you  with  concern,  shame  and  sorrow. 

But  I  would  have  the  subject  used  as  a  test  of 
Christian  character.  The  Christian  has  been  re- 
duced to  the  obedience  of  God.  Now  many  of  you 
profess  to  be  Christians ;  and  are  you  what  you  pro- 
fess to  be  ?     Do  you  obey  God,  all  his  commands, 


those  which  require  abstinence  and  self-denial,  as 
well  as  the  others  ;  and  this  out  of  regard  to  God ; 
nor  from  a  merely  servile  and  mercenary  regard; 
but  from  an  affectionate  and  reverential  regard  of 
him,  because  you  venerate  and  love  him  ;  obey  him 
in  your  spirit  and  with  your  heart,  loving  him  sin- 
cerely and  supremely  ;  do  you  obey  him  constantly 
and  unconditionally,  as  your  supreme  lawgiver ;  and 
is  your  obedience  immediate  and  unquestioning,  ^nd 
accompanied  with  submission  ? 

If  you  have  not  obeyed  God  hitherto,  are  you  dis- 
posed to  obey  him  now?  Let  us  make  trial  of  your 
disposition.  "  God  now  commandeth  all  men  every 
where  to  repent ;"  if  you  would  obey  him,  do  this ; 
repent ;  there  is  no  duty  prior  to  this  :  and  how  rea- 
sonable repentance  is  !  It  is  to  be  sorry  for  having 
disobeyed  God,  and  to  do  so  no  more. 

Again  :  "this  is  his  commandment,  that  we  should 
believe  on  the  name  of  his  son  Jesus  Christ ;  do  this^ 
if  you  would  obey  him ;  and  how  reasonable  this  is; 
how  necessary.  Neither  pardon,  nor  holiness,  nor 
life,  nor  any  blessing  can  be  without  it.  Beware  of 
doing  one  thing  when  God  commands  another. 

This  is  the  whole  matter  in  controversy  between 
God  and  sinners.  It  relates  to  his  law ;  he  claims 
obedience,  and  they  will  not  concede  it.  You  are 
parties  in  this  controversy;  it  has  been  going  on 
hitherto,  waxing  warmer,  and  the  breach  ever  widen- 
ing. Is  it  not  time  it  was  terminated  ?  Who  hath 
contended  against  God  and  prospered?  Let  the  pots- 
herds contend  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth,  but  woe 
to  him  who  striveth  with  his  Maker.     Hast  thou  an 


13T 

arm  like  his,  or  canst  thou  thunder  Hke  him?  Can 
thine  heart  endure  or  thy  hand  be  strong  when  he 
shall  lay  hold  on  vengeance  ?  Who  can  stand  before 
his  indignation  ? 

The  controversy  can  only  be  terminated  in  one 
way.  He  will  not  yield ;  you  must ;  he  cannot  give 
up  his  laws ;  you  must  renounce  your  disobedience. 
Your  repentance  and  submission  will  heal  the  breach 
and  settle  the  controversy.    Nothing  else  can. 

Can  you  feel  safe,  while  consciously  living  in  dis- 
obedience to  God? 

Do  you  feel  calm,  in  contemplating  the  prospect  of 
certainly  and  speedily  meeting  him  ?  and  of  account- 
ing to  him  ? 

It  is  wonderful  all  do  not  see  their  need  of  such  a 
provision  as  that  of  the  Gospel,  and  immediately 
avail  themselves  of  it. 


12* 


SERMON  X. 

Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned. — Psalm  li.  4. 

There  is  no  one  who  does  not  know,  as  instructed 
by  his  own  experience,  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
regret  or  repentance.  We  find  them  distinguished 
in  the  Bible  as  the  sorrow  of  the  world  and  the  sor- 
row of  God ;  and  in  that  book  are  recorded  notable 
examples  of  each.  They  differ  in  their  nature  as 
widely  almost  as  they  do  in  their  tendencies  and  re- 
sults, which  are  as  dissimilar  as  death  and  life. 
''  The  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death  ;''  while 
that  of  God  is  unto  salvation  and  eternal  life. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  now  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  several  particulars  which  distinguish  them.  I 
mean  to  remark  only  on  one  peculiarity  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  repentance  which  is  genuine  from 
that  which  is  spurious.  The  distinction  to  which  I 
refer,  has  respect  to  the  view  which  is  taken  of  sin 
in  the  exercise  of  true  repentance.  All  repentance 
implies  a  view  and  some  sense  of  sin.  Every  one 
who  repents,  is  convinced  and  confesses  that  he  has 
sinned.  But  true  evangelical  repentance  regards 
and  feels  sin  as  against  God  ;  and  its  confession  is 
not  merely  "  I  have  sinned,"  but  "  I  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord ;"  and  the  emphasis  is  laid  on  the 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  139 

words  which  express  the  object  of  the  sin,  against 
the  Lord.  Saul  confessed  he  had  sinned,  and  so 
did  Judas.  "  I  have  sinned,"  said  he,  (and  his  con- 
fession declares  wherein  he  had  sinned  ;  the  betrayer 
of  Jesus  exculpates  him,)  "  in  that  I  have  betrayed 
innocent  blood."  And  both  ^^aid  and  Judas  were 
sorry,  sincerely^  exceedingly  sorry ;  but  they  were 
not  sorry  towards  God.  The  consequences  of  their 
sin  affected  them,  but  not  its  object.  They  did  not 
vieio  Midi  feel  their  sin  as  against  God.  They  would 
have  been  just  as  sorry  if  there  had  been  no  God. 
Their  consciences  were  convicted,  but  their  hearts 
sympathized  not.  It  is  true  of  multitudes  of  man- 
kind, that  their  conviction  never  goes  beyond,  ''  I 
have  sinned  ;  I  have  done  wrong  ;"  and  their  repen- 
tance is  simple  sorrow,  or  sorrow  only  towards  man. 
But  with  those  three  notable  examples  of  true  repen- 
tance, which  we  so  frequently  refer  to,  how  different 
it  was.  When  Nathan  said  to  David,  "Thou  art 
the  man,"  he  answered,  "  I  have  sinned  against  the 
Lord,"  though  the  object  and  construction  of  the 
parable  seemed  to  be  to  convince  him  of  his  sin  as 
against  Uriah.  He  repeats  the  same  here  in  still 
more  expressive  language,  "Against  thee  have  I 
sinned."  So  the  prodigal,  "  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven.^''  His  mind  adverts  first  to  that ;  and  the 
publican  felt  similarly,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner."  If  he  had  not  been  affected  by  his  sin  as 
against  God^  he  would  not  have  gone  to  God  to 
ask  mercy.  Judas  confessed  to  nobody,  or  to  man. 
It  is  not  only  evident  that  tliese  men  were  affected 
by  the  consideration  against  God,  but  that  they 


140  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

were  far  more  affected  by  that  than  by  any  other  con- 
sideration ;  yea,  affected  almost  exclusively  by  that 
view  of  sin.  This  is  plain  from  the  confession  of  the 
Psalmist,  "  Asfainst  thee  only  have  I  sinned." 

But  ought  they  to  have  been  so  greatly,  and  almost 
exclusively  affected  by  this  consideration?  Is  the 
view  they  took  of  sin  correct?  Is  sin,  and  all  sin 
aofainst  God.  and  so  much  more  aorainst  God  than 
it  is  against  any  other  being  ?  And  is  this  the 
chief  aggravation  of  sin  ?  Let  us  inquire  into  this 
matter. 

It  is  acknowledged  by  all,  that  some  sins  are  against 
God,  as,  for  example,  profaneness,  blasphemy,  sab- 
bath-breaking, and  all  impiety  and  irreverence. 
God  is  seen  to  be  the  immediate  object  of  those  sins. 
They  are  palpably  directed  against  him.  But  men 
are  not  so  ready  to  extend  this  confession  to  sins  of 
every  kind.  And  yet  are  they  not  all  transgressions 
of  his  law  ?  acts  of  opposition  to  his  will  ?  instances 
of  rebellion  against  his  government  ?  Do  they  not 
all  set  at  nought  his  authority  ?  Is  it  not  against 
God  that  you  sin  when  you  break  the  sixth  or  eighth 
of  his  ten  commands,  as  well  as  when  you  break  the 
first,  third,  or  fcRirth  ?  They  are  all  his  commands, 
though  they  do  not  all  relate  to  him.  He  is  the  author, 
if  not  the  subject  of  them  ;  all  are  expressions  of  his 
will.  If  any  sins  are  not  against  God,  they  must  be 
such  as  are  manifestly  against  men  ;  such  as  those 
which  directly  attack  the  property,  reputation,  chas- 
tity, or  life  of  others.  But  that  even  those  sins  are 
primarily  against  God,  is  plain  from  this,  that  David's 
confession  has  reference  to  sins  of  that  kind.     How 


NEVINS'   SERMONS.  141 

cruelly  against  his  fellow  creatures  they  were,  individ- 
uals, the  church  and  the  nation  ;  but  he  says,  in  con- 
fessing them,  "Against  thee,  (and  adds,)  thee o/i/?/ have 
I  sinned."  I  do  not  suppose  he  meant  to  deny  tliat  he 
had  sinned  against  others  ;  but  his  sin  was,  in  his 
estimation,  so  much  more  against  God  than  it  was 
against  others,  that  he  speaks  of  it,  by  a  very  common 
figure,  as  only  against  him.  A  sin  may  have  many 
objects.  It  may  be  against  one's  self,  suicidal,  and 
against  one's  family,  and  against  the  church,  and  the 
world  too.  But  its  chief  object  is  God.  It  wrongs, 
insults,  outrages  no  being  so  much  as  it  does  the 
greatest  and  best. 

I  would  distinctly  assert,  then,  that  not  only  is  all 
sin  against  God,  but  every  sin  is  more  against  God 
than  it  is  against  any  other  being.  However  it  may 
despise  human  authority,  it  involves  a  greater  con- 
tempt of  his.  However  injuriously  it  may  affect 
other  interests,  it  does  still  more  injury  to  the  great 
interests  of  God's  universal  kingdom.  Who  can  tell 
what  an  influence  for  evil  every  transgression  of  di- 
vine law  may  not  exert,  and  wliat  calamitous  conse- 
quences would  not  follow,  but  for  the  overruling 
providence  of  God. 

Men  rarely  fall  into  a  greater  error  than  when 
they  speak  of  a  person  as  sinning  only  against 
himself;  as  nobody's  enemy  but  his  own.  Alas! 
even  the  drunkard  and  the  suicide  sin  still  more 
grievously  against  God  than  against  themselves ; 
and,  however  adverse  to  themselves  they  may  be, 
they  are  still  greater  enemies  to  God.  Why,  ''  the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God."     It  is  not  en- 


142  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

mity  to  any  other  being,  though  it  may  be  inimical  to 
many.  It  is  capable  of  being  reconciled  to  others. 
The  greatest  enemies  in  politics  are  easily  reconciled. 
It  is  only  to  make  their  interests  identical,  and  the 
work  of  reconciliation  is  done.  No  chanafe  divine 
of  heart  is  necessary.  But  men  are  such  enemies  to 
God  that  the  very  seat  of  the  enmity  has  to  be  up- 
turned and  radically  altered,  before  reconciliation 
takes  place.  A  man  does  not  become  a  friend  of 
God  by  being  convinced  that  it  is  his  interest  to  be 
on  terms  of  friendship  with  God.  He  holds  out  long 
after  that.  1  would  observe  here,  before  I  proceed  far- 
ther, how  much  sin  must  be  against  God  to  justify  such 
language  as  this,  in  which  there  is  an  entire  over- 
looking of  its  opposition  to  other  beings,  and  a  recog- 
nition of  it  as  alone  against  God.  Think  how  much 
injury  to  men  is  often  done  by  a  particular  sin  ;  how 
much  it  is  against  them,  as,  for  example,  the  sin  of 
David,  of  Jeroboam,  of  Manasseh.  And  yet  the 
same  sin  is  so  much  more  against  God  than  against 
men,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  directs  that,  in  the  confes- 
sion of  it,  it  shall  be  spoken  of  as  only  against  God. 
Think  of  the  evil  towards  men  involved  in  murder, 
seduction,  intemperance.  How  heinous,  as  against 
men,  those  offences  are  !  But  what  must-they  be  a-s 
against  God,  how  much  more  evil  and  heinous, 
when  the  evil  and  heinousness  of  t'hem,  great  as  it  is 
against  men,  is  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  their 
enormity  as  against  God. 

I  proceed  now  to  my  main  remark,  which  is,  that 
sin^s  greatest  aggravation  is  its  being  against  God. 
If  it  were  not  so,  it  is  clear  that  so  much  stress  would 


NEVINS'    SERMONS,  143 

not  be  laid  on  this  circumstance  in  the  confession  of 
It.  When  David  says,  ''  against  thee,  thee  only  have 
I  sinned,"  he  does  not  mean  merely  to  proclaim  the 
fact  that  sin  is  exclusively  against  God,  but  to  signify 
that  that  constitutes  the  chief  evil  of  it,  and  that  it  was 
that  view  of  sin  which  most  painfully  affected  him  ; 
"  as^ainst  thee^''  that  was  what  so  greatly  troubled 
him.  He  was  sorry  for  the  injury  he  had  done  to 
others;  (and  what  grief, what  agony  often  attends  the 
recollection  of  the  injury  done  to  others  by  our  sins,) 
but  deep  as  that  grief  was,  it  was  nothing  to  the  sor- 
row he  felt  for  having  sinned  against  God  ;  "  they 
shall  look  on  me  whom  they  have  pierced  and  mourn 
as  one  mourneth  for  a  first  born."  But  how  does  this 
so  greatly  aggravate  sin,  its  being  against  God? 
What  if  it  is  against  God?  Who  is  God?  and  what 
is  he  to  us,  that  our  sinning  against  him  should  so 
affect  us?     1  will  tell  you. 

I  suppose  that  when  David  said,  "  against  thee,'' 
he  thought  of  the  greatness  and  majesty  of  God,  and 
it  affected  him  that  he  had  sinned  against  a  being  of 
such  awful  grandeur,  of  such  terrible  glory,  a  being 
of  understanding  infinite,  and  power  almighty ; 
against  him  he  had  presumed,  he  had  dared  to  sin. 
He  thought  too  of  his  holiness ;  not  against  a  polluted 
fellow  creature  merely  had  he  sinned,  but  against 
him  who  is  of  purer  e^^es  than  to  behold  evil,  and 
cannot  look  at  iniquity,  in  whose  sight  even  the 
heavens  are  not  clean  ;  God,  glorious  in  holiness,  of 
whom  the  seraphim  say  continually  to  each  other, 
^'holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of  hosts." 
Against  thee.     He  reflected  moreover,  I  suppose,  on 


144 

the  equity  and  justice  of  God  ;  on  the  rectitude  of  his 
government,  the  excellence  of  his  law,  and  the  rea- 
sonableness of  his  requirements.  They  were  not 
grievous  commandments  he  had  broken.  It  was  not 
a  hard  yoke  he  had  disdained.  The  law  he  had 
transgressed  was  holy,  just,  and  good.  Obedience  to 
it  was  no  less  conducive  to  his  good  than  to  God's 
glory.  But  a  consideration  which  still  more  deeply 
affected  him  was  the  goodness  of  God  ;  against  thee^ 
so  good  to  all,  to  me  so  benevolent,  so  beneficent.  He 
thought  of  the  condescension  of  God,  his  bounty,  his 
forbearance,  his  compassion,  of  goodness  in  all  its 
various  forms,  its  universality,  its  liberality,  its  un- 
weariedness.  Against  him,  the  great,  holy,  just,  wise 
and  good  Jehovah  he  had  sinned.  He  reflected  on 
all  his  perfections  ;  and  then  on  his  relations^  as  crea- 
tor, preserver,  benefactor ;  his  creator,  preserver,  and 
benefactor  ;  against  thee,  the  former  of  my  body,  the 
father  of  my  spirit,  my  bountiful  provider,  my  watch- 
ful guardian,  my  powerful  protector,  in  whom  I  live 
and  move  and  have  my  being ;  against  thee,  on  whom 
I  am  so  continually  and  completely  dependant.  He 
thought  of  his  obligations^  of  all  that  he  owed  to  God. 
He  had  sinned  against  the  being  who  had  the  strong- 
est clairtis  on  him  originally,  and  who  had  been  by 
his  munificent  and  perpetual  benefactions  bringing 
him  continually  more  in  debt.  He  thought  of  all  that 
God  had  done  for  his  soul.  He  had  pardoned  all  his 
sins,  had  saved  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  hav- 
ing himself  found  a  ransom  for  him,  and  even  the  sin 
he  was  repenting  of,  God  had  forgiven  ! 

There  was  at  least  one  other  thought  present  to 


145 

the  mind  of  the  Psalmist.  It  was  of  God's  omnipre- 
sence, for  he  alludes  to  it  in  this  very  connection. 
All  he  had  done  against  God,  he  had  done  before 
him,  in  his  immediate  presence  ;  "  and  done  this  evil 
in  thy  sight ;"  against  thee  and  before  thee  I  have 
sinned. 

After  this  brief  and  very  imperfect  survey,  who 
does  not  see  that  the  grand  aggravation  of  sin  is  its 
being  against  God. 

But  did  this  attach  enormity  to  the  sin  of  David 
merely?  Have  not  others  sinned  against  the  same 
being  ?  Yes,  all  who  have  sinned,  have  sinned  against 
God,  and  all  the  sins  of  each  have  been  against  God. 
There  is  no  sin  which  is  not  against  God.  It  is  not 
sin,  if  it  is  not  against  God.  Thou  art  the  man,  as 
well  as  he  whom  Nathan  addressed  in  this  language, 
and  thoii^  and  thou^  and  the  language  in  which  he 
replied  equally  well  becomes  you,  "  I  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord." 

But  have  you  ever  taken  this  view,  and  been  af- 
fected by  this  consideration  ?  Have  you  ever  in  your 
confession  gone  beyond,  "  I  have  sinned."  Has  your 
heart  ever  impelled  you  to  add  with  emphasis 
against  thee.  This  is  the  grand  defect  of  many  con- 
victions and  repentances.  Have  you  ever  entered 
into  the  deep  meaning  of  those  two  words  against 
thee  7  If  you  have  not,  you  are  still  a  stranger  to 
genuine,  evangelical  repentance. 

1.  This  subject  shows  us  why  conviction  of  sin  is 
often  so  slia^ht.  It  is  because  the  sin  is  not  resfarded 
as  against  God.  That  most  important  circumstance 
of  sin  is  overlooked.     The  object  of  sin  is  not  con- 

13 


146 

templated  and  considered.  The  person  perceives  and 
confesses  only  that  he  has  sinned,  and  no  wonder 
that  does  not  greatly  affect  him.  That  is  not  the  af- 
fecting consideration.  The  affecting  consideration 
is  its  being  against  God.  Many  persons  acknowledge 
to  us  that  they  are  sinners,  but  they  cannot,  they  say. 
perceive  that  they  are  so  great  sinners,  as  we  would 
have  them  believe.  Their  whole  difficulty  arises 
from  their  not  contemplating  sin  as  against  God. 
It  is  my  sinning  against  God  and  such  a  God,  that 
makes  me  so  great  a  sinner.  If  I  forget  the  object  of 
my  sin,  I  shall  of  course  be  Wind  to  its  enormity. 
Look  at  your  sin  in  the  light  of  this  subject,  as  against 
God  ;  and  think  of  it  too,  as  before  him,  against  him 
and  before  him;  and  can  you  any  longer  doubt  that 
you  are  a  great  sinner  ?  You  have  heard  sometimes 
an  indignant  master,  or  parent  address  a  servant  or 
child  in  language  like  this,  •'  dare  you  disobey  my 
orders  in  my  presence,  insult  me  to  my  face,"  and 
you  felt  that  that  circumstance  aggravated  the  disobe- 
dience. But  do  you  not  know  that  all  God's  orders 
are  disobeyed  in  his  presence.  We  never  sin  but  in 
his  sight.     All  iniquity  insults  him  to  his  face. 

2.  We  see  from  this  subject  why  true  repentance 
equally  regards  all  sin.  It  does  so  because  all  sin  is 
against  God.  The  reason  why  the  true  penitent  re- 
pents of  any  sin  is  its  being  against  God,  and  this  reason 
holds  with  respect  to  all  sin  whatsoever.  It  is  all  against 
God.  If  there  were  any  sins  not  against  God,  he  might 
spare  those ;  but  there  is  not,  cannot  be  any  such 
sin.  Spurious  repentance  is  partial.  It  sorrows  on 
account  of  one  sin,  but  for  another  feels  no  grief,  and 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  147 

the  reason  is  that  it  recognizes  no  common  character 
as  belonging  to  all  sins,  and  constituting  their  turpi- 
tude. Judas  never  repented  but  of  one  sin.  Saul 
was  several  times  sorry.  Neither  of  them  repented 
of  all  their  sins,  because  they  repented  of  no  one  of 
them  on  right  principles,  and  for  the  proper  reason. 

3.  We  see  why  the  reformation  that  follows  'true 
repentance  is  thorough.  The  true  penitent  sorrow- 
ing for  sin  as  against  God,  and  perceiving  all  sin  to  be 
against  God,  for  the  reason  that  he  renounces  any^ 
renounces  every  sin.  It  grieves  him  so  that  he  has 
done  so  much  against  God,  that  he  cannot  consent  to 
do  any  thing  more  against  him,  and  his  daily  prayer 
is,  "  let  not  any  iniquity  have  dominion  over  me ; 
search  and  see  if  there  be  any  evil  way  in  me." 

4.  We  see  why  sin  is  no  trifle,  viz  :  because  it  is 
against  God.  Its  object  gives  it  importance.  An  of- 
fence small  in  itself,  becomes  great  if  directed  against 
majesty.  And  for  the  same  reason  that  sin  generally 
is  no  trifle,  no  sin  is  a  trifle,  because  there  is  no  sin 
which  is  not  against  God.  This,  therefore,  redeems 
every  sin  from  the  insignificance  which  some  would 
attach  to  certain  sins. 

That  language  applied  to  sin,  "  it  is  nothing,  it  is 
a  trifle,  a  venial  oflence,  a  mere  peccadfllo,"  would 
never  be  used,  if  men  contemplated  sin  as  against 
God. 

The  subject  is  a  practical  one,  will  you  then  make 
a  practical  use  of  it  ?  It  concerns  you,  it  concerns 
every  sinner  ;  will  you  then  allow  it  to  interest  you  ? 
Will  you  investigate  the  subject,  and  see  if  the  view 


148 


1  have  presented  of  sin  is  correct  ?  And  if  it  is  against 
God,  and  you  find  it  so,  will  you  let  your  mind  dwell 
on  that  circumstance  of  sin  ?  Will  you  weigh  those 
two  words  against  thee  1  Will  you  ponder  on  the 
import  of  them  ? 

If  sin  is  against  God,  and  you  have  sinned  against 
him,  is  it  not  time  to  confess  it,  and  to  confess  it  as 
against  God,  and  to  God  ?  Is  it  not  high  time  to  say, 
each  of  you,  "  against  thee,  and  thee  only  have  I 
sinned?"  Would  it  be  premature  if  you  were  to 
adopt  this  confession  to-day  ?  Will  you  do  it  \  Will 
you  say  in  the  ear  that  is  never  dull,  "  against  thee 
have  I  sinned,"  being  sorry  that  you  have  done  so^ 
and  resolving  to  do  so  no  more  ?  "  If  we  confess  our 
sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,"  he 
is  faithful,  for  he  has  said  he  will ;  and  just,  for  now 
he  can  be  just  and  justify  him  who  believes  in  Jesus ; 
and  he  will  do  more  ;  he  will  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness, for  "the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son 
cleanses  us  from  all  sin." 

5.  We  see  why,  even  where  there  is  some  conviction 
of  sin,  it  is  no  deeper,  often  but  a  slight  seriousness. 
It  is  because  sin  is  not  regarded  as  against  God. 

6.  We  see  why  it  is  that  you  can  sin  with  so  little 
compunction,  ay,  without  feehng  of  any  kind,  why 
you  can  so  recklessly  neglect  this  and  that  duty.  It 
is  because  you  don't  consider  that  you  are  doing  it  to 
God. 

7.  How  dreadful  the  approach  to  the  judgment 
seat  will  be  to  those  who  neglect  the  mercy  seat. 
How  much  more  formidable  human  tribunals  would 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  149 

be,  if  the  judge  were  the  being  personally  offended  : 
if  he  were  the  object  of  the  crime  on  which  he  sits  in 
judgment.  This  terror  belongs  to  the  tribunal  before 
which  you  are  to  appear. 

8.  We  see  why  men  are  so  proud,  and  carry  them- 
selves so  haughtily.  They  forget  God,  especially  do 
they  forget  how  vile  and  guilty  they  have  made  them- 
selves by  sinning  against  him. 


13* 


SERMON    XI 


For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be 
repented  of:  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death. — 
2  Corinthians  vii.  10. 


The  Apostle  Paul  wrote  two  epistles  to  the  church 
which  he  had  instrumentally  established  at  Corinth. 
The  first  was  in  answer  to  a  letter  received  from  that 
church,  as  he  expressly  says ;  and  if  that  letter  from 
Corinth  were  now  in  existence,  it  would,  undoubt- 
edly, throw  some  light  on  such  parts  of  the  answer 
to  it,  as  are  now  more  or  less  obscure.  In  his  first 
epistle,  the  Apostle  sharply  reproved  the  Corinthians 
for  tolerating  in  their  communion  a  notorious  offender, 
a  certain  incestuous  person.  He  rebukes  them  for 
being  puffed  up  and  not  rather  mourning,  that  he 
that  had  done  the  deed  might  be  taken  away  from 
among  them,  for  he  asks,  "  Know  ye  not  that  a  little 
leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump  ?"  He  commands 
them  not  to  keep  company  with  such  a  person,  be- 
ing called  a  brother ;  no,  not  to  eat ;  nay  more,  he 
enjoins  it  upon  them  to  put  away  from  among  them- 
selves the  wicked  person ;  to  deliver  him  unto  Satan ; 
that  is,  to  excommunicate  him  from  that  visible  body 
over  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  presides,  and  to 
regard  him  as  belonging  to  that  other  community, 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  151 

which  is  subject  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air  ;  and  this  "  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that 
the  spirit  might  be  saved  in  the  Lord  Jesus."  Before 
writing  this  second  epistle,  Paul  had  heard  through 
Titus,  who  had  come  from  Corinth,  that  his  instruc- 
tions had  been  complied  with,  and  that,  as  a  church, 
they  had  sorrowed  deeply  on  account  of  the  evil  done 
by  one  of  their  members  ;  and  he  takes  notice  of  it 
in  this  chapter.  He  speaks  of  the  comfort  he  had 
received  in  hearing  of  their  mourning,  and  tells  them 
that  though  he  grieved  for  the  necessity  of  writing 
that  letter  to  them,  yet  he  does  not  repent  having 
written  it,  nor  that  it  had  made  them  sorry,  because 
they  had  been  made  sorry  but  for  a  season,  and  had 
sorrowed  to  repentance  ;  that  is,  as  the  word  literally 
signifies,  to  a  change  of  mind,  and,  consequently,  of 
conduct.  They  had  been  made  sorry  after  a  godly 
manner,  and,  therefore,  had  received  no  damage  by 
him  in  any  thing ;  and  then  he  introduces  this  gene- 
ral proposition,  "  For  godly  sorrow,  (or  sorrow  ac- 
cording to  God,  that  is,  such  as  he  requires,  and  as 
is  derived  from  divine  considerations,)  worketh  re- 
pentance (or  a  change  of  mind,)  to  salvation  not  to 
be  repented  of,  (regretted,)  but  the  sorrow  of  the 
world  worketh  death."  This  is  our  subject — sorrow. 
It  is  melancholy  to  reflect,  my  hearers,  that  of  all, 
even  of  those  who  are  now  most  elate,  and  prosper- 
ous, and  gay,  we  may,  with  absolute  certainty  pre- 
dict sorrow.  Yes,  Avhosoever  thou  art,  oh  !  man, 
and  whatsoever  thy  present  circumstances,  sorrow 
awaits  thee.  The  tear,  the  sigh,  the  sob,  the  bitter 
regret  shall  be  thine.     That  cup,  which  now  spar- 


152  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

kles  as  thou  puttest  it  to  thy  lips  to  drink  its  deh- 
cious  draught,  shall  pass  away  and  be  exchanged 
for  another,  in  which  the  wormwood  and  the  gall 
will  constitute  the  chief  ingredients.  It  is  certain, 
inevitable,  unless  thou  hast  alread)^  drunk  thy  bitter 
portion,  sown  all  thy  tears,  and  a  merciful  Provi- 
dence should  remove  you  suddenly  to  that  country 
where  no  tear  is  secreted,  and  whence  all  the  causes 
of  sorrow  are  excluded.  Except  on  this  single  con- 
dition, it  is  inevitable ;  and  it  is  suitable  that  you 
should  have  experience  of  sorrow  :  for  its  causes 
surround  and  pervade  you.  They  are  in  you  and 
about  you.  Events  will  occur,  which  cannot  but 
mournfully  affect  you.  You  are  bound  by  the  ten- 
der ties  of  affection  to  many,  and  you  will  painfully 
feel  it,  as  one  after  another  they  are  severed ;  and  you 
will  owe  to  many  the  sorrow  of  sympathy ;  but  above 
all  you  have,  each  of  you,  done  that  for  which  you 
should  sorrow ;  if  sorrow  were  not  necessary,  yet  it  is 
most  appropriate  ;  if  repentance  were  not  a  duty,  yet 
it  ought  to  be  esteemed  a  privilege.  Sorrow  is  the 
sinner's  road  to  rejoicing.  Through  tribulation  and 
much  tribulation,  we  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Tears  are  the  seeds  of  joy,  and  blessed  are  they  that 
mourn.  But  sorrow  is  absolutely  obligatory  ix.^  well 
as  suitable.  '•  Be  afflicted  and  mourn  and  weep,"  is 
an  apostolical  exhortation.  Sorrow  is  of  the  very 
essence  of  repentance  ;  and  what  are  we  more  per- 
emptorily or  more  frequently  commanded  to  do  than 
to  repent  ?  And,  in  fine,  sorrow  is,  in  every  sense, 
necessary ;  our  very  salvation  is  suspended  on  it. 
It  is  impracticable  without  it,  "for  godly  sorrow 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  153 

worketh  repentance  to  salvation ;"  and  salvation  is 
never  wrought  without  it.  Nor  is  it  necessary  by 
arbitrary  appointment  merely ;  but  in  the  very  nature 
of  things.  The  return  and  submission  of  the  rebel 
involves  sorrow  as  a  part  of  it.  Oh  !  ingrate  child  of 
the  best  of  fathers,  couldest  thou,  even  if  thou  mightest, 
return  to  that  home  which  thou  hast  abandoned,  and 
fall  into  that  embrace  of  love  which  thou  didst  spurn, 
and  enjoy,  unupbraided,  thy  father's  favor  and  thy 
father's  bounty,  without  the  feeling  of  sorrow? 
Could  you  ?  would  you  ?  We  should  not  too  fervently 
deprecate  sorrow  ;  and  there  is  a  species  of  it  that 
we  should  court  and  cherish.  "We  hear  sometimes 
of  the  luxury  there  is  in  tears,  and  of  the  joy  of 
grief;  of  penitential  tears,  of  that  grief,  which  is 
according  to  God,  it  is  true. 

But  will  any  sorrow  suffice  ?  Does  it  matter  not 
what  evil  causes  the  sorrow  ?  Do  all  tears  produce 
joy  ?  No ;  salvation  is  not  suspended  on  sorrow 
without  regard  to  its  cause.  No  tear  germinates  and 
fructifies  unto  joy,  but  the  penitential  tear.  That 
sorrow  which  pain,  loss,  disappointment,  bereave- 
ment, and  various  other  like  causes  produce,  is  not 
necessarily  salutary.  It  is  often  destructive  :  '^  the 
sorrow  of  the  world,"  that  is,  that  which  is  produced 
by  mere  worldly  considerations,  '^  worketh  death." 
It  emaciates  the  body  and  drinks  up  the  spirit. 
Often  it  makes  men  more  rebellious  ao^ainst  God  ; 
and  not  unfrequently  arms  them  against  their  own 
lives.  The  sorrow  that  is  salutary  has  si7i  for  its 
cause.  That  is  the  evil  which  gives  rise  to  it ;  and 
here  let  me  introduce  a  reflection.     How  little  of  all 


154  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

the  mourning  that  exists  among*  men.  is  on  account 
of  sin,  although  sin  is  the  cause  of  all  the  evils  on 
account  of  which  they  mourn,  and  ought,  therefore, 
to  excite  a  permanent  sorrow^  and  when,  moreover, 
sin  is  the  only  thing  for  which  it  is  profitable  to  in- 
dulge sorrow.  We  speak  of  the  benefits  gf  affliction 
generally ;  but  they  are  confined  to  that  affliction 
which  is  on  account  of  sin  :  and  other  affliction 
is  beneficial,  only  as  it  may  conduce  to  this.  And 
let  me  ask  you  here,  for  I  would  interweave  rather 
than  append  an  application,  has  sin  ever  caused  you 
sorrow  ?  Other  evils  have  afflicted  you  ;  but  has 
this  greatest,  this  elemental  evil,  that  thou  hast  sin- 
ned against  God,  that  thou  hast  broken  his  law,  re- 
belled against  his  authority,  insulted  his  throne,  and 
cast  his  favors  back  upon  him  ?  Hast  thou  gone  to 
the  root  of  the  matter,  where  the  evil  originated,  and 
sorrowed  there  ? 

But  will  every  species  of  sorrow  for  sin  suffice  ? 
Is  it  enough  that  sin  be  the  cause  of  the  sorrow  ?  No. 
Judas  sorrowed  sincerely  and  deeply,  and  sm  was 
the  cause  of  his  sorrow,  ''  I  have  sinned,"  said  he, 
••  in  that  I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood  ;"  but  his 
sorrow  wrought  only  death.  To  mere  sorrow  on 
account  of  sin  the  Scriptures  make  no  promise ;  on  it 
they  set  no  value.  Nor  should  they  ;  we  do  not.  It 
is  involuntary :  no  one  supposes  that  mere  regret  for 
having  done  a  wrong  thing,  without  regard  to  the 
particular  considerations  which  inspire  the  regret, 
has  any  virtue  in  it.  Judas  was  no  better  for  that 
kind  of  repentance  which  he  exercised.  It  was  but  a 
bitter  foretaste  of  that  remorseful  repentance,  which 


NEVINS'     SERMONS.  155 

is  a  part  of  his  punishment,  a  pang  of  hell  on  earth. 
In  the  original  language  of  the  New  Testament,  as 
you  doubtless  remember  to  have  often  heard,  there  is 
a  word  appropriated  to  this  exercise,  a  word  expres- 
sive of  simple  sorrow  for  sin  ;  and  it  is  quite  a  differ- 
ent word  from  that  which  is  used,  when  repentance 
is  enjoined  as  a  duty,  or  spoken  in  connection  with 
salvation,  although,  through  the  poverty  of  our  lan- 
guage, both  are  translated  repentance.     The  former 
word  signifies   literally,  a  care  or  concern  after  a 
things  regret.     The  latter,  a  change  of  mind.    They 
are   both  used  in   this  chapter  ;   the  first   in  verse 
8,  "  I  do  not  repent,  though  I  did  repent ;"  and  in  the 
text,    •'  not  to   be   repented  of,"  that   is,   not  to  be 
regretted.     The  other  is  used  in  verse  9,  and  also 
in  the  text,    "  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance^'' 
not  regret  merely,  but  a  change  of  mind  and  conse- 
quently of  conduct.     The  first  word  is  employed  to 
denote   the  repentance  of  Judas^  the  other  that  of 
Peter.  The  latter  kind  of  repentance  is  voluntary,  and 
the  subject  of  command  and  promise,  but  the  former 
is  involuntary.     It  is  a  part  of  the  entail  of  sin.     It 
is  or  will  be  universal.     It  often  precedes  and  attends 
true  and  saving  repentance ;  and  in  the  case  of  all  those 
who  die  without  true  repentance,  it  icill  be  a  part  of 
their  endless  portion.     It  is  the  product  of  prisons 
and  punishments  ;  and  in  view  of  this  kind  of  repen- 
tance, that  establishment  yonder  may  be  well  called 
a  penitentiary,  though  I  fear,  it  nurses  but  little  of 
the  other  species  of  repentance.     The  distinction  is 
clear,  and  it  is  important,  and  it  is  so  familiar,  that 
perhaps  I  have  needlessly  dwelt  upon  it ;  we  recog- 


156  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

nize  it  in  the  judgments  we  form  of  others,  though 
we  cannot  often  apply  it.  But  is  it  not  often  over- 
looked when  we  sit  in  judgment  on  ourselves?  Do 
we  distinguish,  as  we  ought,  between  the  sorrow 
that  is  according  to  God.  and  the  sorrow  of  the 
world ;  between  the  regret  and  the  change  of 
mind?  And  do  not  many  satisfy  themselves  with 
this,  that  they  have  felt  the  mere  regret?  When  one 
of  you  is  asked  if  you  have  repented,  do  you  not 
understand  the  interrogator  as  enquiring  simph^ 
whether  you  have  felt  sorry  for  having  done  wrong  ? 
And  if  you  can  say,  '•  oh  !  yes,  I  have  repented,  I  do 
repent,  I  never  did  wrong,  but  I  was  afterwards  sorry 
for  it,"  do  you  not  feel  as  if  you  had  satisfactorily 
answered  the  inquiry  ?  But  you  have  not.  All  that 
you  affirm  of  yourself  may  be  true,  and  yet  you  may 
be  as  utter  a  stranger  to  available  repentance,  as  he 
is,  who  was  never  invited  to  the  exercise  of  it.  I 
know  you  have  felt  sorry.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  tell 
me  that  you  have.  It  is  nature  to  feel  sorry.  It  re- 
quires no  grace  to  feel  sorry.  You  cannot  help  feel- 
ing sorry,  there  is  no  virtue,  for  there  is  no  volunta- 
riness in  it.  The  question  is  not  whether  you  have 
felt  sorry,  but  what  has  made  you  feel  sorry,  whether 
you  have  been  made  sorry  after  a  godly  manner, 
and  what  your  feeling  sorry  has  made  you,  what  has 
produced  your  sorrow,  and  what  your  sorrow  has 
produced.  The  point  is  not  settled,  when  it  is  ascer- 
tained that  you  have  experienced  sorrow  on  account 
of  sin.  Both  the  cause  andthe  effect  of  that  sorrow 
are  to  be  investigated,  and  it  is  upon  the  result  of 
this  investigation  that  the  decision  turns  against,  or 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  157 

in  favor  of  you.  Your  sorrow  may  be  that  of  the 
world.  It  must  be  of  a  godly  sort,  or  it  is  not  to  sal- 
vation. Rely  not  then  on  the  bare  fact  of  your 
sorrow. 

But  to  describe  with  some  particularity  that  pecu- 
liar sorroAv,  which  is  called  godly  or  according  to 
God,  because  it  is  such  as  he  requires,  and  because 
it  has  a  special  regard  to  him.  To  sorrow  after  a 
godly  manner,  or  to  repent  truly  is, 

1.  To  fee!  sorrow  for  sin  as  offending  God,  rather 
than  as  injuring  ourselves  or  others.  The  true  peni- 
tent views  sin  in  its  every  aspect,  but  chiefly  as  it 
looketh  towards  God.  He  grieves  because  of  the 
mischief  it  does  himself  and  may  do  others,  but 
he  grieves  chiefly  because  of  the  injury  it  offers  to 
God.  It  displeases,  it  dishonors,  its  tendency  is  to 
dethrone  God.  His  boundless  goodness  it  maltreats, 
his  supreme  authority  it  insults,  and  his  infinite 
power  it  defies.  It  is  conduct  unworthy  of  a  creature, 
a  subject,  a  ward,  a  beneficiary,  a  child.  ^'I  have 
sinned,"  was  the  confession  of  Judas ;  he  says  not 
'•against  God."  But  hear  the  confession  of  the  pen- 
itent prodigal.  *'  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  hea- 
ven, and  in  thy  sight ;"  hear  another's,  ''  against  thee, 
thee  only  have  I  sinned  and  done  this  evil  in  thy 
sight :"  and  still  another's,  "  mine  eye  seeth  thee, 
wherefore  I  abhor  myself  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes."  Mark  the  difference.  In  the  first  case,  see 
the  sorrow  of  the  world :  in  the  other  instances,  be- 
hold the  sorrow  according  to  God  ;  hence, 

2.  It  is  to  feel  sorrow  for  sin  as  an  evil  in  itself, 
and  not  merely,  nor  yet  principally  in  its  conse- 

14 


158  levins'  sermons. 

quences.  The  effects  of  sin  are  evil,  but  sin  itself  le 
more  evil,  and  it  would  be  evil,  though  it  produced 
no  effects.  There  is  harm  from  it,  but  there  is  still 
more  harm  in  it.  The  grand  evil  of  sin  consists  m 
its  moral  character,  not  in  its  physical  consequences. 
That  the  will  of  an  infinitely  perfect  being  should  be 
contravened  or  murmured  at  by  one  of  his  intelligent 
creation,  that  his  high  and  rightful  authority  should 
be  disregarded,  and  a  law  dictated  by  his  wisdom  and 
transcribed  from  his  attributes  broken  and  broken 
again,  that  such  a  soverei<>-n  sliould  be  rebelled 
affainst,  such  a  benefactor  ungratefully  treated,  and 
such  a  father  dishonored,  disobeyed  and  even  hated, 
that  then  is  the  evil  of  sin.  These  are  the  views  of 
the  true  penitejit,  and  these  views  call  forth  mourn- 
in  sf  from  him.  His  sorrow  is  according  to  God. 
And,  hence,  he  recognizes  no  class  of  sins  as  trivial, 
as  unworthy  of  sorrow,  or  as  deserving  only  a  very 
low  degree  of  sorrow.  How  can  he,  when  every  sin. 
equally  with  every  other,  is  a  contravention  of  the 
same  supreme  will,  a  breach  of  the  same  good  and 
holy  law,  an  act  of  rebellion  against  the  same  hea- 
venly sovereign.  For  the  least  heinous  of  all  sins, 
he  sorrows,  and  sorrows  deeply,  and  can  never  think 
that  he  has  sorrovv^ed  enough.  But  it  deserves  to  be 
made  a  distinct  observation, 

3.  That  to  repent  truly  is  to  feel  sorrow  for  all  sin. 
If  true  repentance  regards  sin  as  an  evil  in  itself, 
then,  as  every  sin  is  an  evil  in  itself,  it  must  have 
respect  to  all  sin.  Does  the  genuine  penitent  view 
sin  as  having  God  for  its  object  1  and  does  he  sorrow 
for  it  on  that  account  ?  and  is  not  God  the  object  of 


NEVINS'  SERMON'S.  159 

^very  sin  equally  '!■  A  man  may  regret  one  sin  and 
not  another ;  but  he  cannot  repent  of  one,  without 
repenting  of  all.  Repentance  is  universal  with  re- 
gard to  sin,  because  the  considerations  which  excite 
it  apply  equally  to  all  sin,  and  because,  moreover,  it 
involves  a  change  of  mind.  Som.e  persons  talk  of 
having  repented  of  some  sins  and  not  of  others. 
Their  repentance  is  of  the  same  species  with  his, 
who  went  and  hanged  himself.  They  have  truly 
repented  of  none,  or  they  would  have  repented  of  all. 
Their's  is  the  sorrow  of  the  world.  That  is  partial  ; 
but  not  so  godly  sorrow.  It  is  universal.  The  true 
penitent  grieves  to  have  offended  God  in  any  respect. 
4.  Godly  sorrow  originates  in  love,  and  is  con- 
nected with  faith.  A  man  may  regret  having  of- 
fended a  being  whom  he  hates,  because  he  may  fear 
his  vengeance ;  but  he  grrieves  only  for  having  of- 
fended a  being  whom  he  loves.  Fear  may  shake  the 
heart,  but  it  is  love  alone  that  melts  it.  The  revela- 
tion of  the  majesty  and  justice  of  God  may  make  it 
tremble,  but  it  is  only  a  discovery  of  his  loveliness 
that  softens  and  subdues  it.  The  slave  crouches 
and  cowersj  and  "  Don't  strike,"  he  says,  "I  am  sorry  ; 
I  will  do  so  no  more."  It  is  fear.  He  would  escape 
if  he  could  ;  and  he  will  offend  again,  if  he  can  cover 
his  sin.  The  child  seeks  the  very  bosom  he  has 
pierced,  and  there  weeps  and  hides  his  head,  "Strike." 
he  says,  "  I  deserve  it ;  I  have  sinned  ;  but  spurn 
me  not ;  I  would  perish  here."  It  is  love.  I  have 
said  that  godly  sorrow  is  connected  with  faith,  faith  in 
Christ.  Yes,  "  Repent  and  believe  the  Gospel,"  was 
the  united  command  of  the  Saviour  :  and  Paul  testi- 


160  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

lied,  "  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  towards  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,"'  with  the  same  breath.  Repent- 
ance is  exercised  in  view  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  and 
to  behold  that  is  to  beheve  :  "  they  shall  look  on  him 
whom  they  have  pierced  and  mourn."  There  they 
see  at  a  glance  the  display  of  God's  love  and  justice, 
the  grace  of  Christ,  the  evil  of  sin,  and  heaven's  un- 
willingness that  men  should  perish,  and  tlie  heart 
gives  way  at  the  sight. 

Finally,  to  repent  truly  is  to  be  so  sorry  for  a  thing, 
as  not  to  do  it  again  ;  or,  at  least  so  sorry,  as  sincerely 
to  intend,  and  by  all  means  to  endeavor  not  to  do  it 
agahi.  There  is  a  real  reformation,  where  there  is 
godly  sorrow,  and  a  reformation  in  every  respect, 
though  not  such  a  perfect  reformation  in  any  respect, 
as  to  secure  the  penitent  against  all  future  falling 
into  sin.  With  this  qualification,  I  repeat  it,  that  to 
repent  is  to  be  so  sorry  for  an  act,  as  not  to  do  it 
again.  Does  not  the  sorrow  of  many  of  you  fall 
short  of  this  ?  You  are  sorry  ;  but  are  you  so  sorry 
as  to  amend  your  doings  ?  Do  you  not  go  on  in  the 
same  old  way,  sinning,  and  sorrowing,  and  sinning, 
sin  being  on  both  sides  of  your  sorrow  ?  You 
regret  that  you  do  not  live  a  better  life,  and  you  think 
you  will,  but  you  form  and  fulfill  no  fixed  purpose 
to  lead  a  better  life.  Why  is  this  '^  Because  there 
is  no  change  of  mind.  Your  repentance  is  but  an 
after-care,  regret,  the  sorrow  of  the  world.  Godly 
sorrow  worketh  a  change  of  mind  ;  and  where  there 
is  a  change  of  mind,  there  will  be  a  change  of  conduct. 

And  now  permit  me  to  ask,  not  if  you  have  felt 
sorrow  for  sin.  for,  if  you  have,  the  question  is  no^t 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  IGl 

decided  in  your  favor,  though  if  you  have  not,  it  is 
at  once  decided  against  you  :  but  whether  you  have 
sorrowed  after  a  godly  manner,  sorrowed  for  having 
offended  the  great  God,  on  account  of  the  intrinsic 
evil  of  sin,  for  all  sin,  even  for  those  which  are 
classed  in  the  catalogue  of  the  world  as  trivial,  sor- 
rowed from  love  and  with  faith,  and  unto  reforma- 
tion and  holiness  ?  Then  you  have  sorrowed  to 
salvation  ;  and  whether  you  have,  inquire,  examine. 
It  is  indispensable  that  you  should  see  the  state  of 
the  case.  Sorrow  is  before  you  ;  and  sorrow  for 
sin  ;  you  have  no  choice  to  exercise  in  regard  to 
this.  There  is  no  alternative.  There  will  be  sor- 
row for  sin,  either  godly  or  worldly  ;  penitential  or 
remorseful ;  here  or  hereafter ;  temporary  or  eternal : 
in  hope  or  in  despair  ;  salutary  or  destructive.  This 
alternative  there  is  ;  between  these  two  kinds  of  sor- 
row you  have  to  choose  ;  and  can  you  hesitate  ? 
can  it  take  you  long  to  decide  which  is  the  less  evil  ? 
And  will  you  not  make  choice  of  the  less  ? 

And  if  you  mean  ever  to  sorrow  unto  repentance, 
will  you  not  now,  when  this  may  be  your  only  op- 
portunity, and  the  stock  of  sorrow  you  are  laying  up, 
is  daily  accumulating?  Will  you  make  more  work 
for  repentance  ? 

The  repentance  recommended,  is  not  to  be  re- 
pented of  There  is  a  repentance  which  itself  needs 
to  be  repented  of,  for  there  is  sin  in  it.  It  is  regret ; 
the  sorrow  of  the  world  ;  but  this  is  not  true  of  godly 
sorrow.  None  ever  regretted  having  experienced 
that ;  nor  would  you. 

And  is  it  not  reasonable  that  you  should  feel  the 

14* 


162  NEVINS"    SERMONS. 

sorrow  and  exercise  tlie  repentance  I  have  described? 
I  appeal  to  heaven  if  it  is  not ;  I  appeal  to  earth  if  it  is 
not ;  and  I  dare  make  my  appeal  to  hell  itself  to  say 
if  it  be  not  reasonable.  Well,  then,  the  Gospel  is  a 
reasonable  system  ;  the  terms  of  salvation  are  rea- 
sonable. What  more  can  you  want  ?  Then  if  you 
should  never  feel  this  sorrow,  if  you  should  die  in 
un repented  sin,  what  will,  what  must  be,  what 
ought  to  be  your  portion  hereafter  ?  Will  not  your 
perdition  be  reasonable  ?  Will  you  not  be  your  own 
accuser,  your  own  executioner  too  ?  What  will  be 
your  reflections,  as  you  pace  the  prison  of  despair  ? 
Will  they  not  be  such  as  these  ?  "I  am  here,  because 
T  would  be  here.  I  might  have  been  elsewhere,  in 
yonder  heaven,  where  many  I  knew  and  loved  are. 
I  brought  myself  here  ;  fool,  wretch  that  I  was  ;  and 
must  I  be  here  forever,  oh  !  forever  ?"  Yes,  forever, 
ever,  a  thousand  voices  of  despair  re-echo. 


SERMON  XII 


For  all  this  they  sinned  still, — Psalm  Ixxviii.  32. 


1  DO  not  know  that  there  is  any  part  of  the  Bible, 
which  more  easily  finds  its  way  to  my  heart,  which 
more  readily  and  deeply  affects  it,  than  those  Psalms, 
for  there  are  several  of  them,  which,  like  this,  ex- 
hibit in  contrast  God's  conduct  towards  men,  espe- 
cially towards  that  family  of  men  which  he  selected 
to  be  his  peculiar  people,  and  their  conduct  towards 
him;  the  methods  and  measures  of  God  to  bring 
them  back  to  repentance  and  to  reduce  them  to  obe- 
dience ;  and  their  infatuated,  obstinate,  and  but  too 
often  successful  resistance  of  them ;  his  alternate 
judgments  and  mercies,  his  successive  smiles  and 
frowns,  all  having  the  same  benevolent  object  in  view, 
to  melt  them  into  contrition,  and  to  bind  them  by 
fear  and  love  and  gratitude  in  unalterable  allegiance 
to  his  throne,  and  the  strange  and  almost  uniform 
inefficacy  of  these  divine  expedients  to  the  end  pro- 
posed by  them.  What  a  spectacle  is  here  presented  ! 
How  glorious  to  God  is  this  exhibition,  and  how  dis- 
honorable to  man,  how  it  illustrates  by  the  same  light 
divine  goodness,  and  human  wickedness  !  So  God 
dealt  with  his  ancient  people.  So  he  deals  with  each 
one  of  yoUj  treating  every  individual  now  very  much 


164  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

as  he  treated  once  that  nation,  striving  with  you 
by  his  spirit  for  your  own  salvation  ;  strivings  how 
shameful  that  striving  should  be  necessary,  that  there 
should  be  any  opposition  or  obstinate  holding  out  on 
your  part,  to  require  striving  ! 

The  text  succeeds  a  poetical  account  of  God's 
dealings  with  Israel,  particularly  with  that  notable 
generation  which  saw  his  wonders  in  Egypt,  and 
whom  he  brought  out  of  that  house  of  bondage  with 
a  high  hand  and  an  out-stretched  arm.  It  beautifully 
and  pathetically  relates  what  God  did  for  them,  what 
marvellous  things  to  deliver  them  from  their  enemies, 
and  to  provide  for  their  subsistence  in  their  journey- 
mgs  through  a  wilderness  of  drought  and  sterility  ; 
how  he  divided  tho  sea  and  caused  them  to  pass 
through,  and  made  the  waters  to  stand  as  a  heap; 
how  in  the  day  time  he  led  them  with  a  cloud  and 
all  the  night  with  a  light  of  fire  ;  and  clave  the  rocks 
in  the  wilderness  and  gave  them  drink  as  out  of  the 
great  depths  ;  and  how  when  they  asked,  God  can 
furnish  a  table  in  the  wilderness,  he  commanded  the 
clouds  from  above,  and  opened  the  doors  of  heaven, 
and  rained  down  manna  upon  them  to  eat,  and  gave 
them  of  the  corn  of  heaven,  and  rained  flesh  also 
upon  them  as  dust  and  feathered  fowls  like  as  the 
sand  of  the  sea.  It  relates  also  how  they  distrusted 
and  murmured  against  God,  how  they  tempted  and 
rebelled  against  him,  and  how  God  being  provoked 
to  anger,  sent  his  consuming  judgments  upon  them, 
and  yet  at  the  same  time,  how  exceedingly  ready  he 
was,  being  full  of  compassion,  to  turn  away  his  an- 
ger, so  soon  as  they  relented  and  sought  him,  though 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  166 

even  then  their  heart  was  not  right  with  hnii.  You 
will  find  these  contrasted  statements  very  beautifully 
interwoven  in  this  Psalm,  if  you  will  read  it  as  I 
hope  you  will,  and  not  only  this  but  all  the  Psalms 
constructed  on  the  same  principle,  tbe  one  hundred 
and  sixth  particularly. 

At  the  close  of  that  part  of  the  narration  referred 
to,  come  in  the  words  of  the  text,  "for  all  this,  they 
sinned  still :"  in  brief  and  simple  language  describing 
the  inefficacy  of  all  that  Cfod  had  done  for  them,  both 
in  the  way  of  judgment  and  mercy.  They  were  un- 
reclaimed, they  went  on  unsubdued.  And  is  not  the 
same  true  of  many  individuals  of  this  generation,  and 
even  of  this  assembly  ?  At  this  very  period  of  the 
history  of  some  of  you,  after  all  God's  dealings  with 
you  hitherto,  his  alternate  mercies  and  judgments, 
after  all  the  prosperity  you  have  enjoyed,  and  the 
adversity  you  have  suftered,  after  all  the  divine  treat- 
ment you  have  experienced,  the  whole  of  which  has 
been  intended  to  arrest  you  in  the  career  of  sin  and 
to  change  the  determination  of  your  ways,  to  bring 
you  to  repentance,  submission,  and  obedience,  at  the 
end  of  all,  may  it  not,  with  too  much  truth  and  ap- 
propriateness, be  said  of  you,  "for  all  this,  they  sin 
still." 

"  For  all  this,  they  sinned  still."  The  first  part  of 
this  declaration  implies  that  what  God  had  been  do- 
mg  for  the  Israelites,  was  intencled  and  adapted  to 
arrest  their  sinning  or  to  bring  them  to  repentance  ; 
for  it  is  said,  "  for  all  this,"  that  is,  notwithstanding 
all  this,  in  despite  of  all  this  ;  this  that  was  meant  to 
bring  them  to  repentance,  and  that  was  suited  to  have 


166  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

this  effect ;  for  all  this,  they  did  not  repent,  they  sin- 
ned still :  the  measures  were  unsuccessful,  the  means 
inefficacious,  they  sinned  still. 

I  would  not  have  you  suppose  that  the  thing  com- 
plained of,  when  it  is  said,  "  they  sinned  still,"  was 
their  not  having  become  perfecdy  holy.  Even  Moses, 
Phineas,  Joshua,  Caleb,  and  those  who  took  the  side 
of  the  Lord  in  all  the  rebellions,  which  marked  the 
progress  of  the  Israelites,  were  not  perfectly  holy. 
They  differed  most  m.aterially,  however,  from  Korah. 
Dathan,  Abiram  and  the  great  multitude  who  sided 
with  them  ;  and  who  afterwards  for  their  rebellion  on 
another  occasion  were  debarred  from  entering  into 
the  promised  land.  Nor  is  it  intended  to  deny  that 
they  did  sometimes  relent  a  little,  for  it  is  affirmed  a 
little  farther  on,  "when  he  slew  them,  then  they 
sought  him,  and  they  returned  and  inquired  early 
after  God ;"  but  the  meaning  is,  that  they  still  re- 
mained characteristically  and  habitually  unbelieving 
and  rebellious ;  they  continued  to  harbor  the  same 
distrustful  and  unfriendly  dispositions  towards  God  ; 
they  did  not  repent  and  return  to  him  with  the  whole 
heart ;  their  heart  was  not  right  with  him ;  when  he 
afflicted  them,  they  did  indeed  cry  to  him,  but  as 
soon  as  his  hand  was  taken  off,  they  forgot  him  again. 
They  were  not  steadfast  in  his  covenant.  The  others 
were  not  perfect  in  their  obedience,  but  these  ren- 
dered no  acceptable  obedience.  In  the  best  of  them 
there  was  evil  mingled  with  the  good,  but  in  these 
there  was  no  good  thing  toward  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel.  If  the  others  were  sinners,  yet  they  were  pen- 
itent   sinners,    but   these    were   impenitent.      The 


16: 


distinction  is  very  important ;  the  difference  is 
altogether  essential.  Wlien  we  say  of  some  of  you 
that  you  sin  still,  we  do  not  mean  that  there  are  any 
who  do  not  sin  at  all,  nor  that  you  do  never  relent,  and 
feel  compunctious  visitings,  and  purpose  and  perhaps 
accomplish  some  sort  of  reformation ;  but  we  mean  that 
you  do  not  repent,  that  you  are  not  subjects  of  that 
'•  saving  grace,  whereby  a  sinner,  out  of  a  true  sense 
of  his  sin,  and  apprehension  of  the  mercy  of  God  in 
Christ,  doth  in  the  grief  and  hatred  of  his  sin,  turn 
from  it  unto  God,  with  full  purpose  of,  and  endeavor 
after,  new  obedience."  We  do  not  pretend  to  deter- 
mine what  kind  of  sins  you  commit.  We  do  not  ac- 
cuse you  of  the  more  flagitious  transgressions;  but 
we  say  and  mean  that  you  are  still  characteristically, 
habitually,  and  willingly  sinners  against  God.  And 
when  we  call  upon  you  to  stop  sinning,  we  mean 
that  you  should  cease  to  be  this  ;  that  you  should  re- 
pent according  to  that  comprehensive  definition  of 
repentance  which  we  have  given. 

"  For  all  this,  they  sinned  still."  Now  this,  which 
describes  the  result  of  God's  dealings  with  the  gene 
ration  which  came  out  of  Egypt,  was  written  for  the 
admonition  of  others  ;  primarily  of  those  who  were 
contemporary  with  the  Psalmist,  but  ultimately  for 
the  admonition  of  all,  even  of  us  on  whom  the  ends 
of  the  world  are  come.  In  one  place  the  Apostle  tells 
us,  "  whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime,  were 
written  for  our  learning,"  Kom.  xv.  4 ;  and  in  an- 
other, 1  Cor.  X.  11 :  he  says,  in  connection  with  the 
very  history  which  this  Psalmist  recapitulates,  *'  Now 
all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples. 


168  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

and  they  were  written  for  our  admonition."  Thi? 
use  is  frequently  made  of  them  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  it  is  remarkable  that  no  portion  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  oftener  referred  to  for  instruction  and 
warning,  than  that  part  of  the  Mosaic  history  of 
which  the  generation  which  come  out  of  Egypt  is  the 
subject.  You  will  remember  the  extended  allusion 
to  it  made  in  the  third  and  fourth  chapters  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  purpose  for  which  it 
is  there  introduced.  It  is  referred  to  on  the  principle 
that  human  nature  is  in  all  places  and  at  all  time? 
essentially  the  same,  and  that  God's  manner  of  dealing 
with  men  is  every  where  and  always  in  substance 
the  same.  Men  now  are  liable  to  do  as  that  genera- 
tion did,  and  if  they  do  as  they  did,  they  will  be  treat- 
ed as  they  were  treated.  If  either  we  are  not  subject 
to  the  same  depravity,  or  exposed  to  the  same  penalty, 
in  case  we  make  a  similar  exhibition  of  it,  there  is 
no  propriety  in  this  reference,  there  is  really  nothing 
in  that  history,  which  should  admonish  us.  The 
lact  of  its  being  referred  to  by  inspired  writers  de- 
monstrates that  we  are  no  better  than  they,  and  that 
God  administers  his  government  on  the  same  princi- 
ples now,  that  he  did  then.  Therefore  let  them  who 
sin  still  take  warning  from  the  fate  of  those  of  whom 
once  it  was  said,  "  they  sinned  still."  Do  not  you 
calculate  on  impunity  in  a  case  in  which  impunity 
was  nev^er  realized  by  any  ;  "  except  ye  repent,  ve 
shall  all  likev/ise  perish." 

There  is  a  remark  of  some  importance  that  I  would 
introduce  here.  It  is  that  we  who  live  in  these  last 
days  of  time  have  on  some  accounts  advantages  for 


169 

salvation,  which  our  more  remote  predecessors  had 
not ;  advantages  arising  out  of  that  accumulation  of 
force  and  increase  of  weight  which  certain  motives 
are  ever  receiving  as  time  makes  progress.  We  have 
a  longer  experience  to  instruct  us.  We  have  more 
numerous  examples  to  admonish  us.  There  is  in 
the  history  of  divine  providence  as  it  goes  on,  a  con- 
stant repetition  of  warning ;  and  the  voice  which 
proclaims  that  the  wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished,  is 
getting  louder  and  more  distinct  every  day.  The 
generation  which  came  out  of  Egypt  had  not  all  the 
same  examples  to  warn  them,  that  we  have.  If  ihey 
could  doubt  what  would  be  the  fate  of  rebellion 
against  God,  yet  how  can  we  1  W^ho  but  a  madman 
can  now  expect  impunity  in  sin  ;  when  God  has  made 
so  many  declarations  that  he  will  punish,  and  when 
in  confirmation  of  his  word,  he  has  so  many  times 
actually  punished?  Our  situation  then  is  more 
favorable  to  repentance.  We  feel  a  heavier  pressure 
of  motive  upon  us.  So  also  we  sin  under  more 
aggravating  circumstances,  for  with  this  increased 
weight  of  motive,  there  comes  also  a  heavier  load  of 
responsibility. 

But  to  come  to  the  more  direct  discussion  of  the 
text,  let  us  consider, 

1.  What  God  does  to  keep  men  from  sinning;  to 
arrest  transgressors  in  their  guilty  course,  and  to  re- 
claim them  from  it. 

His  doing  any  thing  signifies  that  he  would  have 

them  cease  from  sin,  and  illustrates  the  sincerity  of 

the  divinely  expressed  wish  :  "  Oh  1  that  they  would 

fear    me   and  keep    my    commandments    always," 

15 


170  NEVINS'     SERMONS. 

and  of  the  exhortations,  "  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from 
your  evil  ways."  God  does  a  great  deal  to  ar- 
rest the  sinner  and  bring  him  to  repentance ; 
''  for  all  this,"  it  is  said ;  implying  that  much 
had  been  done.  The  truth  is,  all  that  God 
does  up  to  a  certain  point  in  the  history  of  every 
individual,  is  done  with  this  view.  All  his  dispensa- 
tions and  dealings  propose  the  sinner's  repentance 
and  salvation,  until  that  period  when  his  Spirit,  which 
he  says  shall  not  strive  always  with  man,  ceases  to 
strive  with  him;  that  unknown  period  when  he 
says  of  the  incorrigible  trasgressor,  as  he  said  of 
Ephraim,  ''  he  is  joined  to  his  idols,  let  him  alone." 
All  up  to  that  fearful  hour  in  the  sinner's  history  is 
with  a  view  to  reclaim  him  from  sin,  but  after  that 
nothinaf  is  done  with  that  view.  He  is  sfiven  over. 
The  things  belonging  to  his  peace  are  forever  hid 
from  his  eyes.  The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is 
ended,  he  is  not  saved,  and  he  is  not  to  be  saved.  He 
who  sins  up  to  that  hour,  shall  sin  on  forever  ;  he 
shall  be  abandoned  to  have  unmolested  his  own  way ; 
he  is  left  like  Pharaoh  to  harden  his  heart  more  and 
more.  And  God's  thus  leaving  him,  and  ceasing 
from  those  measures  whose  intent  and  tendency  are 
to  reclaim,  is  all  that  is  meant  by  his  hardening  the 
sinner.  But  antecedently  to  this  much  is  done  for 
the  sinner.  He  would  be  astonished,  if  he  were  at 
once  to  see  it  all.  He  would  be  filled  with  wonder  at 
God's  goodness  and  forbearance,  and  at  his  own  in- 
gratitude and  rebellion.  But  he  turns  his  eyes  away 
from  it ;  he  does  not  consider  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
nor  regard  the  operation  of  his  hands.     He  does  not 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  171 

Study  to  know  the  meaning  of  every  mercy,  and  of 
every  affliction.  He  is  prospered,  but  he  forgets  God, 
he  is  afflicted,  and  his  aim  is,  as  soon  as  possible  to 
forget  the  affliction.  He  does  not  know  that  God  is 
dealing  with  him  for  the  sake  of  his  soul.  He  does 
not  consider  that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  striving 
with  him  about  the  matter  of  his  salvation.  When 
he  wakes  up  in  eternity  he  will  see  it,  and  he  will 
wonder  that  he  could  ever  have  been  blind  to  it. 
''  For  all  this,  they  sinned  still." 

The  fact  that  God  does  so  much  to  arrest  the  sin- 
ner, in  his  progress,  proves  that  it  is  all-important  to 
his  happiness,  essential  to  his  salvation  that  he  should 
be  stopped.  His  deliverance  can  be  accomplished  in 
no  other  way.  Iniquity  must  be  his  ruin,  unless  he 
ceases  from  it.  It  is  on  no  other  condition  that  he 
can  have  any  hope  from  the  mercy  of  God.  If  he 
will  sin  still,  his  perdition  is  inevitable. 

But  that  we  may  answer  the  question,  ''  What 
does  God  do  to  arrest  the  sinner  ?"  What  are  those 
persuasive  measures  he  resorts  to,  to  make  the  sinner 
willing  and  obedient  ?  What  motives  does  he  pre- 
sent ?  I  have  time  to  mention  only  .some  of  them  ; 
nor  can  I  do  much  more  than  merely  mention  them. 

1.  He  proclaims  his  own  infinite  abhorrence  of 
sin.  And  will  you  persist  in  the  love  and  practice  of 
that  which  he  abhors  ;  is  it  not  reason  enough  why 
you  should  hate  and  eschew  it,  that  he  hates  it  in  its 
most  plausible  form,  and  in  its  mildest  degree  ? 

2.  In  the  exercise  of  his  sovereign  authority,  he 
positively  and  pointedly  forbids  it ;  and  dare  you  do 
what  God  forbids,  knowing,  too,  that  he  forbids  it? 


172  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

Fear  you  not  him  who  can  not  only  kill  the  body, 
but  destroy  both  body  and  soul  in  hell  ? 

3.  He  has  annexed  to  the  commission  of  sin  a  pen- 
alty, deep  as  hell,  enduring  as  eternity,  inexhaustible 
as  infinitude.  He  has  declared  his  inflexible  determi- 
nation to  inflict  that  penalty  without  abatement.  He 
can  do  it,  for  all  power  is  liis.  He  will  do  it,  for 
there  is  no  change  in  him,  ''  hath  he  said,  and  shall 
he  not  do  it  ?"  There  is  no  possibility  of  eluding  his 
eye  or  escaping  out  of  his  hand,  for  his  eye  and 
hand  are  every  where.  Wilt  thou  tempt  that  pen- 
alty ?     Wilt  thou  defy  him  to  do  his  utmost  ? 

This  penalty  he  has  annexed  to  all  and  every  sin. 
He  has  made  every  oflence  committed  against  him 
capital.  In  his  penal  code,  there  is  no  punishment 
short  of  death.  "  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin  ;  the 
soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die." 

4.  He  has  not  only  threatened,  but  begun  to  exe- 
cute his  threatenings.  The  weight  of  his  indio^nation 
long  suspended,  has  fallen  on  many  and  buried  them 
in  the  bottomless  pit.  Man's  life  here  below  is  made 
up  of  vanity  and  labor  because  of  sin.  The  aspect 
of  Providence  is  dark  with  the  frowns  which  hang 
upon  it ;  and  the  first  death  has  passed  or  is  passing 
upon  all.  He  has  punished.  His  acts  confirm  his 
declarations.  Oh  !  who  that  reflects  on  what  God 
has  said  about  sin  and  done  against  it,  can  go  on  in 
it  ?  Who  dare  continue  in  a  course  which  he  has 
so  determinately  set  himself  against,  on  which  he 
so  darkly  frowns,  and  from  which  he  so  terrifically 
warns  ? 

Tbis  is  a  part  of  what  he  has  done.     And  surely 


NEVINS'   SERMONS.  173 

this  were  enough  to  frighten  the  most  courageous 
into  obedience,  if  one  could  be  frightened  into  that, 
whose  principle  and  fulfillment  is  love,  which  casteth 
out  fear. 

But  he  has  adopted  a  different  set  of  measures ; 
measures  inviting,  attracting,  winning,  melting ; 
measures  of  mercy.  He  would  draw  by  cords  of 
love  ;  he  would  overcome  by  methods  of  kindness. 
He  declares  his  reluctance  to  punish.  He  proclaims 
his  willingness  to  forgive  ;  and  that  he  might  con- 
sistently pardon  he  lets  us  see  at  what  expense  he 
has  been  ;  how  that  to  spare  us,  he  spared  not  his  own 
Son,  but  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all,  that,  by 
his  stripes,  we  might  be  healed.  He  has  consented 
that  one,  infinitely  dear  to  him,  should  stand  in  our 
place,  and  bear  the  curse  for  us,  that  we  might  be 
redeemed  from  the  curse.  The  cross  of  Christ,  at 
the  same  time,  in  the  same  exhibition,  demonstrates 
that  God  will  punish  sin,  and  that  he  would  spare 
the  sinner.  There  comes  forth  from  it  the  most 
powerful  of  all  possible  motives  ;  mercy  and  judg- 
ment meet  there.  All  that  fear  can  do,  and  all  that 
love  can  do  are  here  united  in  one  appeal,  irresisti- 
ble, I  would  say,  but  that,  alas  !  it  is  resisted.  Can 
you  gaze  upon  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and  go  on  in  sin  ? 
If  you  can,  there  remaineth  nothing  more  ;  you  must 
go  on. 

These  are  measures  which  God  employs  with  sin- 
ners generally.  But  what  has  he  done  for  you  in 
particular  ?  Think ;  you  know  your  own  private 
history  best.  Have  you  never  felt  him  near  you  ? 
Have  you  not  sometimes  thought  that  God  was  deal- 

15* 


174  NEVINS'    SERMONS'. 

ing  with  you  ?  Have  you  never  enjoyed  blessings^ 
and  suffered  bereavements  which  you  could  trace 
back  to  him  ?  Has  he  never  gratified  your  incHna- 
tions  ?  Has  he  never  disappointed  your  hopes  ? 
Have  you  not  sometimes  been  made  to  feel  your  de- 
pendance  on  him  ?  Have  you  never  felt  yourself  to 
be  in  his  hand,  and  then  has  not  his  favor  seemed 
desirable  and  his  frown  dreadful  ?  Has  he  never 
brought  you  near  the  grave  and  then  withdrawn 
you  ?  Are  you  a  stranger  to  the  thrill  of  gratitude, 
or  to  the  pang  of  bereavement?  Has  his  Spirit  never 
striven  with  you  ?  Has  not  the  truth  sometimes  af- 
fected you  ?  Have  you  not,  at  times,  felt  the  con- 
straint of  conviction,  and  been  almost  persuaded  to  be 
different  from  what  you  are  ?  Has  no  inward  monitor 
ever  whispered  to  your  soul  ?  Has  nothing  ever  inti- 
mated God  and  eternity  to  you?  Has  the  world 
never  lost  its  illusion  to  your  eye?  Has  man  never 
seemed,  at  his  best  estate,  altogether  vanity,  and  all 
that  life  can  afford  palled  upon  your  sated  appetite  ? 
Have  you  never  thought  that  you  ought  to  repent? 
Has  it  never  appeared  to  you  that  you  had  a  deep 
stake  in  religion  ?  Have  you  never  been  persuaded 
that  there  is  one  thing  above  all  others  needful,  and 
that  that  is  what  you  do  not  possess  ?  Have  you 
never  thought  seriously  and  mournfully  of  the  end 
of  time,  and  the  exchange  of  worlds,  of  the  grave 
and  the  spirit,  and  the  judgment  and  that  eternity, 
that  long  eternity,  your  own,  a  blessing  or  a  curse  ? 
God  has  been  striving  with  you  ;  and  all  to  arrest 
you  in  the  career  of  sin,  and  to  call  you  back.     And 


175 

what  is  the  result  ?  Are  you  sinning  still  ?  ''  For 
all  this,  they  sinned  still." 

I  have  not  time  to  remark  at  any  length  on  the 
thought  suggested  by  the  latter  part  of  the  text ;  the 
inefficacy  of  all  these  divine  expedients.  "  They 
sinned  still." 

In  regard  to  the  cause  of  this  inefficacy,  however, 
I  would  say  that  it  does  not  imply  any  defect  of 
power  in  God.  And  in  relation  to  the  extent  of  the 
inefficacy,  I  would  observe  these  two  things  ;  jirst^ 
that  the  great  multitude  of  mankind  appear  to  go  on 
in  sin  and  plunge  into  perdition.  They  cease,  it 
may  be,  from  some  sins,  but  they  persist  in  others. 
They  do  not  repent.  And,  secondly^  I  would  re- 
mark that  those  who  do  cease  from  sin,  owe  it  not 
to  these  measures,  except  as  they  are  the  mere  in- 
struments of  God. 

I  resume  now,  in  conclusion,  a  question  I  have 
already  asked,  "  What  is  the  result  of  God's  dealings 
with  you  ?"  Has  he  striven  to  any  purpose  ?  Has 
he  arrested  and  reclaimed  you  ?  And,  if  not,  why 
should  any  thing  more  be  done  for  you  ?  What 
more  can  be  done,  that  has  not  been  done  already  ? 
Why  should  not  God  give  you  up  as  incorrigible  ? 
Why  should  you  be  stricken  any  more  ?  Ye  will 
revolt  more  and  more. 


SERMON    XIII 


My  son,  give  me  thy  heart. — Proverbs  xxiii.  26, 

"Whence  came  I?"  is  the  first  question  which, 
in  some  shape  or  other,  man  puts  to  himself,  when 
he  begins  to  exercise  his  rational  faculties.  While 
he  is  yet  asking  it,  there  is  something  within  him 
which  unites  with  every  thing  around  and  above 
him,  to  declare  that  there  is  a  God,  who,  himself 
uncreated,  created  all  beings,  and  all  things,  and  a 
God,  as  all  his  works  and  ways  do  testify,  uncon- 
trollable in  power,  unsearchable  in  wisdom,  immense 
in  goodness  ;  yea,  universally  and  infinitely  per- 
fect ;  a  God,  whose  oflfspring  we  all  are,  as  even  a 
heathen  poet  could  say,  and  who  giveth  to  all  life 
and  breath  and  all  things.  ''  Doth  he  require  any 
thing  of  me  ?"  is  a  question  that  naturally  follows 
the  other.  I  know  he,  in  whom  I  live,  and  move, 
and  have  my  being,  deserves  all  that  I  have  and  more 
than  I  can  render ;  but  does  he  desire  it  ?  does  he 
demand  it  ?  He  has  a  claim  upon  me  ;  but  does  he 
insist  upon  his  claims?  does  he  use  his  right?  or, 
has  he  waived  it  ?  has  he  turned  me  loose  upon  the 
world,  and  given  me  the  freedom  of  a  universe,  and 
a  license  to  do  as  I  please,  restrained  by  no  law,  and 
amenable  to  no  account?     Is  it  a  matter  of  indiffer- 


177 


ence  to  him  what  I  do  with  these  organic  powers, 
and  these  intellectual  faculties,  and  these  deeply- 
seated  affections,  the  noblest  part  of  me  ?  Or  does 
he  expect  and  exact  some  return  from  them?  I 
know  he  needeth  notliing  that  I  can  give  him.  Yet 
it  may  be  fit  and  morally  right  that  he  should 
exact  and  I  should  render  what  he  may  have  no 
physical  necessity  for.  If  he  cannot  be  the  less 
happy  on  account  of  any  thing  which  I  withhold, 
yet  I  may  be  both  less  happy  and  less  worthy.  Shall 
I  measure  my  obligations  by  his  wants  ?  But  whe- 
ther he  requireth  any  thing  or  not,  is  there  any  thing 
that  I  may  render  him  ?  Have  I  any  thing  that  he 
will  take  from  me,  and  that  is  worthy  of  him  to  re- 
ceive ?  Tell  me  this,  for  I  want  to  render  something 
to  my  God  for  all  his  benefits  to  me.  He  blessed  me 
into  being;  he  hath  called  me  out  of  unconscious- 
ness, and  made  me  to  feel  the  joys  of  conscious  exist- 
ence. I  live  hy  him  ;  I  live  in  him.  His  sun  lights 
my  path  ;  his  earth  yields  me  sustenance  ;  from  his 
air  I  inhale  health ;  and  music,  and  fragrance,  and 
beauty  come  floating  upon  it  to  my  delighted  senses. 
What  will  this  beneficent  God  have  me  to  do  for 
him?  Is  there  any  thing  I  can  do  ?  Oh  !  tell  me, 
for  I  am  in  haste  to  do  it ;  let  me  pay  but  the  first 
installment  of  gratitude,  and  I  shall  be  happier  than 
ever.  What  does  he  require?  what  will  he  receive? 
what  labor  that  my  hands  can  perform?  what  exer- 
cise that  my  faculties  can  be  put  to  ?  what  pilgrim- 
age that  my  feet  can  accomplish  ?  what  posture  that 
my  body  can  assume  ?  The  lifted  eye,  the  listening 
ear,  the  bended  knee,  the  whole  frame  prostrated, 


178 


his  name  set  to  the  music  of  my  voice  ?  Is  it  any 
thing  pertaining  to  the  world?  Shall  I  dig  for  its 
gems  ?  shall  I  dive  for  its  pearls  ?  shall  I  amass  for 
him  its  gold  and  silver  ?  or  is  it  some  sacrifice  of 
some  living  object  dear  to  me  as  my  own  life  ?  Shall 
I  bereave  myself?  shall  I  macerate  my  body  or 
afflict  my  soul  ?  Is  it  any  rite  7  What  is  it  ?  It  is 
none  of  these,  for  I  am  confident  from  his  benignity, 
that  what  he  requires  will  make  me  wiser  and  better 
and  happier,  and  these  have  no  such  tendency. 
What  is  it  then  ?  What  is  that  which  the  parent 
asks  of  the  child  ?  The  gift  most  highly  esteemed, 
which  one  creature  renders  to  a  fellow-creature,  that 
which  the  monarch  had  rather  have,  than  the  scep- 
tre he  bears  and  the  throne  he  sits  upon  ?  What  is 
the  most  precious  thing  you  have  to  give  ?  Is  it  not 
the  heart,  its  love,  the  homage  of  the  affections? 
Well,  this  is  what  God  requires  :  my  son^  give  me 
thy  heart.  It  is  wisdom  that  speaks  in  the  text  and 
context ;  but  she  personates  God.  She  speaks  in 
his  name  and  asks  the  heart  for  him.  If  we  give 
the  heart  to  wisdom,  it  is  the  same  as  giving  it  to 
God,  for  the  affectionate  fear  of  God  is  the  begin - 
ninof  of  wisdom.  The  voice  of  wisdom  is  the  echo 
to  that  which  thundered  from  Sinai,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord,  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart,"  of  which 
Jesus,  in  commenting  upon  it,  said,  "this  is  the 
first  and  great  commandment."  God  deinands  the 
heart.  What !  the  whole  heart  ?  Yes,  my  hearers, 
the  whole  heart ;  by  which,  however,  is  not  meant 
that  we  must  love  him  only,  but  him  first,  him  su- 
premely.    We  may  love  other  objects,  but  we  must 


179 


love  them  less  than  we  love  him.  In  every  compe- 
tition affection  for  him  must  prevail.  Every  love 
must  yield  to  the  love  of  him. 

But  lohy  the  hearty  and  not  something  else  ?  Be- 
cause the  heart  is  the  gift  of  highest  price  ;  and 
God  should  have  the  most  precious  thing  we  have  ; 
because  the  homage  of  the  heart  is  the  only  thing 
which  God  cannot  force  from  his  unwilling  creature  ; 
which  he  cannot  have  without  the  voluntary 
concurrence  of  the  creature.  Every  thing  else 
can  be  compelled,  but  love  cannot,  it  is  not  love  when 
it  is  forced.  Therefore  God  asks  the  heart  to  be 
given  him.  Besides,  the  contemplation  of  the  divine 
character  is  suited  to  produce  in  man  such  a  love, 
as  that  in  which  the  heart  yields  itself  up  and  gives 
itself  away.  There  is  nothing  you  can  do,  or  exer- 
cise or  feel,  which  is  appropriate  to  the  divine  na- 
ture, excepting  love  ;  for  God  is  love,  and  the  behold- 
ing of  love  should  excite  love.  He  that  looketh  on 
him  who  is  love  must  not  merely  speculate,  or  vene- 
rate, or  admire,  he  must  love.  God  requireth  the 
heart,  because  the  giving  of  the  heart  to  him,  is  the 
only  way  of  making  the  heart  good.  It  is  not  by 
contemplating  him,  not  by  admiring  him,  not  by 
speculating  upon  his  attributes,  not  by  performing 
external  acts  of  obedience,  nor  by  suffering  for  him, 
but  only  by  loving  him,  that  we  can  assimilate  our 
character  to  his,  be  holy  as  he  is  holy,  and  per- 
fect as  he  is  perfect.  Every  act  of  affectionate  hom- 
age which  the  heart  renders  to  him,  does  purify  it, 
while  it  pleases  him.  The  love  of  God,  or  the  giv- 
ing of  the  heart  to  him,  does  alone  lay  a  foundation 


180 


for  comaiLinion  with  him,  aad  consequent  happiness 
in  him.  It  is  not  by  knowledge  that  we  approxi- 
mate unto  God,  nor  can  we  draw  near  and  converse 
with  him  by  mere  rites  and  ordinances.  Love  is  the 
preparation  of  the  soul  for  intercourse  with  him,  and 
the  medium  of  the  soul's  intercourse  with  him.  We 
are  happy  in  God  so  far  as  we  love  him  and  no 
farther.  Love  is  the  conduct  that  conveys  comfort 
and  happiness  from  him  the  fountain  down  to  the 
reservoir  of  the  human  heart.  For  these  reasons  he 
would  have  the  heart  given  to  him. 

But  lohy  does  he  ask  only  the  heart  ?  Is  this  all 
that  he  would  have?  Do  not  his  commands  em- 
brace many  other  things  ?  Why  then  does  he  not 
couple  these  with  the  heart?  Because  the  gift  of 
the  heart  includes  or  draws  after  it  every  other  gift. 
The  heart  is  the  leader  and  commander  of  the  soul, 
and  all  its  host  obediently  follow  whithersoever  the 
heart  directs.  The  head  and  hands  and  feet  and 
senses  are  all  servants  to  this  sole  and  potent  master, 
the  heart.  Therefore  he  who  gives  the  heart,  gives 
by  consequence  all  that  he  is  and  has.  We  may 
give  the  mind  without  giving  the  heart,  and  we  may 
employ  all  our  senses  and  bodily  powers  in  the  ser- 
vice of  religion,  while  the  heart  is  afar  off  and  dif- 
ferently employed.  They  cannot  carry  the  heart 
with  them.  But  only  let  the  heart  be  engaged  in 
anything,  and  then  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  the 
powers  of  the  body,  the  influence  of  rank  and  char- 
acter, and  whatsoever  of  the  world  can  be  command- 
ed, are  all  gathered  together  to  co-operate  and  obey. 
The  mind  takes  its  direction  from  the  heart ;  the  life 


181 

has  its  issues  out  of  the  heart ;  and  the  world  makes 
its  sacrifices  at  the  altar  it  designates,  and  pours  its 
tribute  into  the  treasury  it  opens.  Therefore  God 
asks  only  the  heart,  he  knows  that  there  is  no  need 
of  asking  any  thing  else.  And  he  asks  this  first  and 
this  only,  furthermore,  because  no  gift  can  be  of- 
fered in  a  manner  that  shall  make  it  acceptable  to 
him,  unless  the  heart  precede  and  accompany  it. 
The  heart  does  not  only  include  every  gift,  but  it 
sanctifieth  every  gift.  Whatsoever  offerings  we  may 
make  unto  God,  they  are  all  unacceptable  and  un- 
holy except  the  heart  pervades  them  and  goes  with 
them.  Ye  sung  just  now,  but  did  ye  praise  God  ? 
Was  the  heart  attuned  ?  did  it  make  melody  unto 
God  ?  Oh  !  do  you  think  that  God  is  praised  and 
pleased  with  fine  sounds?  And  ye  put  yourselves 
just  now  into  the  attitude  of  prayer,  and  if  ye  did  as 
in  decency  ye  ought,  you  shut  the  senses  as  much  as 
possible  against  the  world ;  and  ye  thought  of  God, 
but  did  ye  pray?  That  is  another  question.  Prayer 
is  the  incense  that  goes  up  from  the  altar  of  the 
touched  and  tender  heart.  Ye  sit  sometimes  at  the 
sacramental  table,  but  doth  the  heart  then  interchange 
affections  with  Christ  ?  Oh !  my  hearers,  it  is  the 
heart  that  makes  the  Lord's  table  a  communion,  that 
makes  music  praise,  supplication  prayer,  regret  re- 
pentance, and  gives  vitality  to  the  otherwise  dead 
mass  of  morality,  making  hving  virtue  of  it ;  for  mo- 
rality, according  to  the  current  meaning  of  that 
word,  is  not  real  virtue,  and  virtue  is  living  mo- 
rality. Therefore,  my  hearers,  God  asks  the  heart 
first  and  only,  for  these  two  reasons  ;  that  no  gift  is 
16 


182  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

good  withoutitj  and  it  bringeth  with  it  or  draweth  after 
it  whatever  is  good. 

My  son  give  me  thy  heart.  I  would  remark 
on  the  afFectionateness  of  this  compellation,  my 
son,  and  you  will  understand  it  as  including 
daughter  also.  Now  thou  dost  not  deserve  to 
be  called  by  this  name,  son,  daughter.  Even  in 
your  innocence,  you  were  a  subject,  a  servant,  a 
possession,  as  well  as  a  son,  and  that  God  should, 
contemplating  thee  as  still  innocent,  waive  the  titles 
that  indicate  authority  and  select  the  one  that  inti- 
mates similitude  and  affection,  were  an  act  of  grace. 
How  much  more  is  it  of  pure  and  unlooked  for  favor 
that  he  calls  you  a  son  now  ?  You  are  a  rebel  and 
an  enemy,  not  a  son  now.  Sonship  implies  affec- 
tion, but  you  have  forfeited  it,  and  rights  and  privi- 
leges, but  you  have  voluntarily  parted  with  them. 
It  supposes  obedience,  but  you  do  not  render  it. 
Why  should  you  still  be  called  a  son,  since  you  have 
done  every  thing  to  make  it  just  in  God  to  disown 
and  disinherit  you  ?  Yet  God  calls  you  a  son  ;  "  my 
son,"  he  says,  though  you  respond  not,  "  my  Father.'' 
He  hath  yet  a  good  will  towards  you.  He  is  so 
ready  to  have  that  affectionate  relation  restored  at 
any  time,  that  he  anticipates  the  language  appro- 
priate to  it.  And  do  I  hear  God  call  me  his  son  ? 
After  so  much  unthankfulness  and  rebellion  so  high- 
handed;  notwithstanding  my  wanderings  from  him, 
and  my  hard  thoughts  of  him,  and  all  my  unfilial 
treatment  of  him  •  is  it  son  I  hear  ?  Could  I  have 
expected  this  2  And  is  he  then  willing  after  all  to 
forgive  and  to  forget,  to  take  me  again  into  his  family 


183 

and  make  me  his  heir  ?  And  shall  I  holdout  against 
such  kindness?  Shall  not  my  heart  go  forth  with 
all  its  affections  to  meet  him,  who  cometh  forth  from 
heaven  with  parental  feelings  to  meet  and  solicit  me?" 
There  is  something  in  kindness  Uke  this  so  undeserved 
and  so  unlocked  for,  that  will  make  an  impression 
on  the  human  heart,  if  any  thing  can.  Oh  !  how 
must  Simon  Peter  have  felt  its  melting  and  subdu- 
ing power,  when  Mary  delivered  to  him  the  mes- 
sage with  which  she  was  charged  by  her  risen  Lord, 
"  go  tell  my  disciples,  and  tell  Peter  ;"  tell  Peter  !  he 
specified  thee,  Peter,  lest  thou  should  think  he  re- 
garded thee  no  longer  as  a  disciple.  He  loves  and 
owns  thee  still,  Peter,  and  bade  me  quiet  your  fears 
and  dispel  your  doubts."  I  think  my  hearers,  it  was 
not  the  remembrance  of  the  misery  he  had  brought 
on  himself  by  that  first  fall  that  prevented  every  fu- 
ture defection,  so  much  as  the  remembrance  of 
Christ's  tender  treatment  of  him  in  and  after  his  re- 
covery. Now  if  that  message  had  such  an  effect  on 
Peter,  what  should  not  this  address  do  with  us  ?  Is 
there  not  more  in  this,  "  my  son,"  from  such  a  quar- 
ter under  such  circumstances,  to  melt  and  break  tha 
heart  ?  Yes,  and  it  does  break  the  heart  that  is  not 
hard  and  infrangible  as  adamant  itself.  My  son  give 
me  thy  heart.  It  is  a  father  making  a  request  of  a 
son.  Now  the  request  which  any  one  of  you  who  is 
a  father,  makes  of  his  child,  ought  to  be  compHed 
with,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  made  ;  unless  the  grant- 
ing it  be  impossible  or  unreasonable.  Much  more 
doth  this  hold  in  the  case  of  God,  for  he  will  not  ask 
what  is  impossible,  he  cannot  ask  what  is  unreason- 


184  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

able  ;  and  he  hath  claims  upon  us  stronger  than  any 
human  parent  can  have.  He  is  our  first  father  :  the 
author  of  our  being,  and  he  has  ever  been  more 
careful  of  us,  more  provident  for  us,  more  bountiful 
to  us,  more  forbearing,  and  more  compassionate  than 
any  human  father  can  be.  A  son  honoreth  and 
obeyeth  his  father,  but  God  is  your  father.  Hast 
thou  a  filial  heart,  and  wilt  thou  restrain  it  from  this 
divine  parent  and  not  give  to  him  what  he  requests^ 
when  he  might  demand  it  7  A  human  father  does 
not  always  in  his  commands  and  requests  propose 
the  child's  good,  but  sometimes  his  own  pleasure ; 
but  God  in  every  thing  that  he  asks  or  commands 
consults  your  good,  your  highest  good.  It  is  certain 
that  compliance  with  this  request  of  his  will  be  for 
your  advantage,  and  there  is,  therefore,  no  room  for 
hesitation.  A  father,  even  the  most  wise  and  aifec- 
tionate  one,  in  proposing  his  child's  advantage  may 
err.  He  may  command  him  to  do,  what  to  do  would 
be  seriously  injurious  to  his  best  interests.  But  the 
Infinite  Father  cannot  so  err.  He  hath  both  the 
knowledge  of  what  is  good  for  you,  and  the  benevo- 
lence to  command  that  and  only  that.  Will  you  with- 
hold your  heart  from  such  a  father  ? 

Especially  when  you  consider  the  nature  of  the 
competition  that  is  on  foot  for  it.  The  heart  must 
be  given  to  some  object  external  to  it.  It  is  not  inde- 
pendent. It  makes  its  dependance  on  something 
without,  and  finds  its  delimits  in  thinofs  exterior  to  it : 
hence  many  things  pay  court  to  it  and  solicit  its  af- 
fections, but  they  may  all  be  reduced  to  these  two ;  the 
world,  and  God.     To  the  one  or  other  of  which  every 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  185 

human  heart  is  given.  Few  indeed  concentrate 
their  hearts  on  one  worldly  object.  Now  and  then, 
to  be  sure,  we  meet  with  one  who  seems  to  have 
given  his  whole  heart  to  the  pursuit  and  preservation 
of  wealth,  or  to  a  particular  species  of  pleasure,  or  to 
projects  of  ambition ;  but,  generally  speaking,  the 
heart  is  divided  into  a  great  many  separate  portions 
and  these  are  distributed  among  the  various  objects 
which  solicit  human  affections.  These  all  cry, ''  give," 
and  God  cries,  "  give."  Will  you  apportion  your 
heart  among  the  creatures  or  bestow  it  all  undi- 
vided upon  the  Creator?  What  claim  has  the 
world  upon  you  ?  A  father's  claim?  You  are  your- 
self its  Lord,  and  to  give  your  heart  unto  it,  were  to 
become  a  voluntary  slave  to  a  degraded  master.  Can 
the  world  appeal  to  your  gratitude  ?  You  owe  it 
none.  It  is  but  God's  instrument  with  which  he 
provides  for  your  wants  and  delights  your  senses. 
What  can  it  promise  you  ?  Glory  ?  Can  it  promise 
more  than  its  Maker  can  ?  Happiness  ?  Who  gave 
it  the  power  of  conferring  happiness  ?  And  cannot 
he  make  you  happy  without  it?  You  prefer  the 
world  to  God  because  of  its  attractions,  forgetting 
that  he  who  gave  it  all  its  attractions,  must  necessarily 
possess  infinitely  more  attractions  in  himself  Think 
you  he  has  so  exhausted  himself  in  creation,  that  he 
has  no  resources  left  in  himself  for  the  heart  that 
gives  itself  unto  him?  Is  there  nothing  in  the  foun- 
tain whence  these  streams  flow  ;  nothing  at  the  cen- 
tre whence  these  emanations  proceed  ?  Is  there  no 
beauty  in  tlie  living  archetypes,  from  which  all  thou 
seest  are  but  copies  ?     What  if  God  should  restrain 

16* 


186 


those  currents  that  now  run  to  thy  soul,  and  with- 
hold those  emanations  of  joy.  and  mar,  as  with  one 
dash  he  could,  all  this  beauty,  and  make  this  world, 
fh  which  thou  now  delighteth  thyself,  as  salt  that 
has  lost  its  savor,  what  would  you  do  then  ?  The 
world  whatever  it  may  promise  you,  cannot  promise 
you  the  permanence  of  any  thing.  It  exists  at  his 
will,  and  if  thou  givest  thy  heart  to  it,  he  can  take 
it  away  from  thee  when  he  pleases,  or  which  is  the 
same,  thee  from  it.  Why  dost  thou  choose  for  thy 
treasure  and  portion  that  which  is  perishable  ?  Art 
thou  perishable  ?  Should  the  immortal  heart,  court 
mortal  objects  and  satisfy  itself  with  mortal  love  ? 
To  give  your  heart  to  the  world,  is  to  unite  life  and 
death  in  wedlock.  The  day  of  separation  will  come, 
when  thou  and  thy  world  must  part,  and  all  those 
things  which  have  noAv  such  attractions  that  they 
prevail  over  thee  to  deny  thy  heart  to  God,  thou  wilt 
have  to  take  thy  leave  of  severally,  thy  fascinating 
amusements  that  now  do  sweetly  poison  thee,  and 
are  so  irresistible  that  even  their  immorality  cannot 
detach  thee  from  them  ;  thy  wealth  too  for  which  it 
may  be  thou  hast  virtually  sold  thy  God  and  Sa- 
viour, and  thy  friends  too  that  enticed  thee  to  plea- 
surable sin,  and  encouraged  thee  to  what  is  not  good. 
All  these  you  must  leave.  Oh  !  it  will  be  a  dreadful 
moment,  the  beginning  of  despair,  the  entering  in  of 
hell  ;  when  thou  feelest  thyself  going  from  all  thou 
lovest,  to  what  thou  neither  lovest,  nor  knowest. 
How  happy  they  who  are  saved  this  separating  pang, 
to  whom  death  has  not  this  sting.  Happy  that  soul 
that  has  been  divorced  from  the  world,  and  is  now 


187 

united  to  God  by  the  indissoluble  bond  of  love.  The 
Christian  goeth  to  his  heart's  home  when  he  dies ; 
the  other  goes  from  it;  and  that  is  the  difference  ; 
oh  !  the  difference,  between  going  to  one's  home, 
and  fro7n  one's  home  !  So  different  is  death  to  the 
Christian  and  the  man  of  the  world. 

But  cannot  I  love  God  and  the  world  both  ?  give 
my  heart  to  each  ?  No.  "  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  "  The 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God."  But 
may  I  not,  when  I  find  the  world  receding,  call  off 
my  heart  and  transfer  it  readily  to  God  ?  God  will 
not  then  address  thee  as  his  son,  and  ask  thee  for  thy 
heart ;  and  thou  wilt  have  no  disposition  to  love  him 
then.  It  will  be  all  fear.  He  has  limited  a  time 
within  which  he  will  call,  and  thou  mayest  answer. 
It  is  life.  God  does  not  ask  the  dead  to  give  him 
their  hearts.  Now  is  the  accepted  time ;  and  now 
does  not  mean  forever.  To-day,  if  you  will  hear 
his  voice ;  but  to-day  does  not  signify  eternity. 
There  is  a  set  time,  which,  if  you  pass,  you  shall 
never  more  hear  the  voice  of  a  Father  affectionately 
addressing  you,  and  asking  to  have  your  heart  that 
he  may  make  it  happy.  Give,  then,  your  hearts  to 
God  while  you  may. 

There  is  another  thought  that  I  would  suggest  for 
your  consideration.  You  think  it,  doubtless,  an 
easy  thing  for  God  to  make  this  request.  But  do 
you  know  what  expense  he  was  at  before  he  could 
make  it  ?  It  was  inconsistent  with  the  perfection  of 
his  character  and  with  the  glory  of  his  government, 
that  he  should  take  back  to  himself  the  recreant  hu- 


188  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

man  heart,  till  some  satisfaction  was  made  for  the 
offence  offered  to  the  one  and  the  dishonor  done  the 
other.  What  then  ?  Did  he  wait  for  us  to  offer  the 
satisfaction  and  pay  the  ransom  ?  Ah  !  he  would 
have  waited  in  vain.  Himself  found  the  ransom; 
himself  provided  the  satisfaction.  ''  He  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son."  God 
spared  not  his  own  Son.  Mark  here  the  strength  of 
his  paternal  feelings.  His  own,  only  begotten,  dear, 
beloved  Son.  How  much  that  Son  was  loved ;  yet 
that  Son  was  not  spared,  that  these  sons  and  daugh- 
ters might  be  spared.  He  was  not  withheld.  He 
was  not  screened  from  suffering  and  from  death. 
No  substitute  was  found  to  take  the  place  of  him 
who  was  our  substitute.  God  spared  not  his  own 
Son.  I  love  those  words  ;  and  I  have  thought  some- 
times, in  reflecting  on  them,  that  there  might  have 
been  an  allusion,  in  this  language,  to  the  inter- 
rupted sacrifice  of  Isaac  on  Mount  Moriah,  when  the 
voice  of  God  arresfed  the  instrument  of  death,  and 
directed  the  father  to  unbind  and  spare  his  son,  and 
that  the  two  facts  were  intended  to  be  set  in  contrast 
to  each  other,  God's  sparing  Abraham's,  but  not 
sparing  his  ovm  son.  Did  God  make  this  sacrifice 
that  he  might  win  your  hearts  and  wed  it  to  himself, 
and  bless  it ;  and  will  you,  after  all  this  withhold  it 
from  him  ?  Do  not,  for  the  sake  of  the  Father,  and 
for  the  sake  of  the  Son,  and  for  your  own  sake,  I 
beseech  you,  do  not  keep  it  back. 

Have  you  already  given  it?  Have  you  responded 
to  this,  ''My  father,  I  do  give  thee  my  heart.  The 
world  shall  no  longer  have  that  heart,  to  detach 


189 

which  from  the  world  thy  Son  died  ?"  And  dost  thou 
then  love  God  with  all  thy  heart?  I  wish  it  were 
the  case  with  all  of  you.  But  be  not  too  hasty  in 
supposing  it,  for  much  depends  upon  it.  By  your 
fruits  you  are  to  be  known.  Do  you  feel  and  act 
towards  God  as  you  do  towards  any  earthly  object, 
when  it  has  your  heart  ?  Do  you  take  great  delight 
in  God,  in  access  to  him,  in  communion  with  him, 
in  contemplating  his  works,  perusing  his  word,  en- 
gaging in  his  worship,  making  your  confessions  to 
him,  offering  your  thanksgivings,  and  preferring  your 
requests  ?  Do  you  supremely  dread  offending  him, 
and  do  you  desire  above  all  things  to  please  him? 
Keep  you  his  commandments  ?  all  of  them  ?  for  he, 
than  whom  none  ever  had  a  deeper  experimental 
knowledge  of  divine  love,  St.  John,  says,  "  This  is 
the  love  of  God  that  we  keep  his  commandments." 

My  hearers,  if  any  of  you  have  not  these  proofs, 
do  not  contend,  but  rather  confess  that  you  have 
never  yet  given  the  heart  to  God ;  and  give  it  now. 
Expose  your  soul  to  the  influence  of  the  motives  I 
have  used  with  you.  Let  them  act  upon  you.  Do 
not  resist  their  momentum.  While  the  heart  is  not 
given  to  God,  it  is  undutiful,  it  is  ungrateful ;  it  is 
fearfully  hazardous  to  live  so  one  day,  one  hour. 
Think  particularly  of  the  ingratitude  of  living  m 
God  and  not  loving  him,  of  receiving  every  thing 
you  have  from  him,  and  not  giving  him  the  only 
one  thing  he  asks  of  you.  He  gives  you  all  things 
without  your  asking  ;  but  you  will  not  give  him  one 
thing,  though  he  asks  it.  He  has  even  given  you 
so  many  things,  and  given  in  so  great  abundance, 


190  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

that  you  are  content  to  be  without  him.  Think  of 
these  things  and  mourn,  and  give  now  to  God  that 
which  he  asks  of  you — the  heart :  and  because  you 
are  a  sinner,  it  must  be  a  broken  and  contrite  heart ; 
for  the  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit,  a  broken 
and  contrite  heart  he  will  not  despise.  Give  it,  and, 
first,  he  will  heal  it  with  the  blood  of  his  Son,  and 
then  bless  it  evermore  in  the  enjoyment  of  himself. 

My  son,  give  me  thy  heart.  Methinks  there  is  a^pe- 
cial,  though  not  an  exclusive,  reference  to  the  young 
person  in  this  address.  It  seems  to  contemplate 
the  young  man  just  engaging  in  the  active  scenes 
of  life,  and  the  young  woman  just  involving  her- 
self in  the  cares  peculiar  to  herself,  and  it  says  to 
each  with  a  tenderness  that  should  draw  tearSy 
"Give  me — thy  God,  thy  heart?  These,  that  are 
around  you,  have  loved  the  world  so  long,  and  so 
long  denied  me,  that  their  hearts  are  now  well  nigh 
grown  to  the  world  ;  but  thy  affections  cleave  not 
so  closely  as  yet.  It  is  easier  to  withdraw  thy  heart. 
Come,  give  it  me,  and  I  will  guide  you,  I  will  pros- 
per you."  Oh  !  happy  youths  !  did  they  but  know 
their  good.  God  has  a  special  regard  for  the  young, 
and  Jesus  Christ  a  peculiar  sympathy  with  the  ten- 
der age.  But,  oh  !  my  young  friends,  you  are  fast 
growing  out  of  the  regard  of  the  one,  and  losing  the 
sympathy  of  the  other. 

Oh  !  tremble  for  the  consequences  of  what  I  have 
been  saying,  for  I  have  been  speaking  of  God's  kind- 
ness  and  love  ;  and  I  know  it  is  a  topic  that  always 
hardens,  if  it  does  not  melt ;  a  theme  that,  if  it  does 
not  draw  the  soul  nearer,  drives  it  farther  off.     I 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  191 

tremble  because  I  fear  that  some  one  of  you  may 
again  refuse  the  request,  which,  in  the  name  and 
behalf  of  God,  I  have  made  of  you  to-day.  I  trem- 
ble lest  that  refusal  should  provoke  God  to  withdraw 
his  request  for  ever. 

Now,  in  conclusion,  who  of  us  will  unite  in  giv- 
ing, for  the  first  time,  or  anew,  if  we  have  given  be- 
fore, our  hearts  to  God,  saying,  unfeignedly  and  from 
the  deepest  soul,  "  Here,  Lord,  we  give  our  hearts  to 
thee  ;  'tis  all  that  we  can  do."  Will  you  7  Who  is 
holding  back  his  heart  ?  God  sees,  and  marks,  and 
frowns.  It  is  written  in  heaven  ;  but  relent,  and  it 
shall  be  erased. 


SERMON    XIV 


For  their  rock  is  not  as  our  rock,  even  our  enemies  themselves 
being  judges. — Deuteronomy  xxxii.  31. 


There  is  nothing  easier  to  prove  than  that  men  are 
beside  themselves.  I  desire  no  hghter  task  than  to 
substantiate  against  them  the  charge  of  moral  infatua- 
tion ;  to  demonstrate  that  "  madness  is  in  the  hearts 
of  the  sons  of  men  while  they  live."  Take,  in  proof 
of  it,  this :  that  men  do  things  which,  at  the  time  of 
doing  them,  they  not  only  know  they  will  be  sorry 
for,  but  actually  intend  to  be  sorry  for  ;  thus  delibe- 
rately and  designedly  making  work  for  repentance  ; 
doing  what  they  mean  to  undo  ;  or  this  :  that  men 
put  off  to  a  confessedly  uncertain  future,  that  which 
not  only  is,  but  is  by  them  admitted  to  be,  of  all 
things,  the  most  obligatory,  the  most  important,  the 
most  needful ;  so  running  the  risk  of  never  doing 
what  most  needs  to  be  done  ;  insuring  every  thing 
but  that  which  is  most  precious  and  most  exposed  ; 
and  taking  measures  to  be  prepared  against  every 
exigency  but  that  which  is  the  last  and  greatest. 
Another  proof  of  the  same  species  of  madness  will 
be  afforded  in  the  progress  of  my  remarks,  in  which 
it  will  be  seen  that,  though  sinners  perceive  and  ac- 
knowledge the  immense  superiority  of  the  condition 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  193 

of  Christians,  they  make  no  effort,  and  have  no  de- 
sire that  it  should  be  their  own  ;  refusing  that  which 
not  only  is  in  fact,  but  is  seen  by  them  to  be,  the 
better  part  and  more  desirable  portion.  The  mere 
fact  that  men  choose  the  loorse  part,  is  not  necessa- 
rily a  proof  of  moral  infatuation  ;  but  that  they  do  it 
with  their  eyes  open  and  their  judgment  convinced 
that  it  is  the  worse  part.  But  do  they  act  so  irra- 
tionally? My  object  is  to  show  that  they  do. — 
^•'  Their  rock  is  not  as  our  rock,  our  enemies  them- 
selves being  judges." 

1.  I  would  observe  that  there  is  a  difference  be- 
tween the  people  of  God  and  others,  which  the  latter 
discover  ;  a  difference  of  character  and  condition 
of  which  they  are  aware,  and  which  they  are  some- 
times forced  to  acknowledge.  I  do  not  say  that  this 
distinction  is  visible  in  all  professors  of  religion. 
How  should  it  be  ?  It  is  not  real  in  all.  There  are 
those  who  differ  from  others  only  in  professing  to  be 
different  from  them.  Nor  do  I  say  that  this  distinc- 
tion is  as  manifest  in  all  real  Christians  as  it  is  in 
some  ;  nor  in  these  equally  manifest  at  all  times ;  but 
my  remark  is  that  there  exists,  and  sinners  see  that 
there  exists  a  class  of  persons  in  the  world,  who,  in 
their  spirit,  and  principles,  and  consistent  acting  in 
accordance  with  their  principles,  in  their  desires, 
aversions  and  aims,  and  in  all  that  goes  to  constitute 
character,  are  different  from  them  and  from  the 
generality  of  mankind  ;  as  also  in  their  hopes,  con- 
solations, supports,  and  sources  of  enjoyment.  Not- 
withstanding the  false  professions  of  some,  and  the 
imperfections  of  all,  this  difference  is  seen  to  exist ; 

17 


194  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

and  the  discernment  of  it  troubles  irreligious  persons 
more  than  any  thing  else  does.  I  wish  they  saw 
more  of  it.  Do  you  trouble  sinners  ?  Don't  you,  on 
the  other  hand,  comfort  and  encourage  them?  help 
the  ungodly  ?  "  Oh,"  said  a  worldly  man  to  me  not 
long  ago,  "it  does  us  good,  when  we  see  one  of  your 
professors  with  us."  I  know  one  who,  in  the  days 
of  his  unregeneracy,  was  made  uneasy  and  dissatis- 
fied with  himself  by  this,  when  nothing  else  had 
power  to  do  it.  An  intelligent  and  accomplished 
young  man,  on  his  death-bed,  told  a  clergyman  who 
visited  him,  that  he  had  been  an  infidel  and  a  profli- 
gate, and  that,  in  the  whole  course  of  his  infidelity, 
there  was  but  one  thing  that  disturbed  him,  and  he 
could  answer  every  argument  for  Christianity  but 
one,  and  that  was  the  pious  example  and  prayers  of 
a  beheving  mother.  That  he  never  knew  how  to 
get  over,  but  the  remembrance  of  it  would  come  to 
him  in  his  mirth  and  disquiet  him  ;  and  it  was  finally 
the  means  of  his  being  brought  to  the  belief  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  to  a  timely  and  happy  repentance. 

The  perception  of  this  diflference  exerts  this  power, 
because  sinners  discern  that  in  so  far  as  Christians 
are  difterent  from  them,  they  are  superior  to  them, 
have  the  decided  advantage  over  them.  This  is 
what  I  propose  to  illustrate. 

Observe,  my  object  is  not  to  show  that  Christians, 
by  which  I  mean  renewed  men,  regenerate  persons 
are,  in  fact,  better,  safer,  and  happier  than  others  ; 
or  that  they  are  so  in  their  own  opinion,  and  in  the 
judgment  of  their  friends,  but  that  they  are  so,  "their 
enemies  themselves  being  judges."     And, 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  195 

1.  In  point  of  character,  sinners  see  and  admit  the 
superiority  of  the  real  Christian.  Take  examples 
from  BibUcal  history.  Compare  John  the  Baptist, 
with  Herod,  or  Mary,  the  sister  of  Lazarus  with  He- 
rodias  or  her  daughter  Salome,  the  dancing  girl. 
Look  first  at  Paul,  and  then  at  Festus  or  even  Agrippa. 
You  see  what  the  difference  is,  and  where  the  supe- 
periority  lies.  Or  look  at  some  living  Christian  and 
then  at  yourself,  and  make  a  comparison.  Look  at 
his  spirit  and  then  at  your  own  ;  his  spirit  of  meek- 
ness and  your's  of  resentment ;  his  humility  and  your 
pride ;  his  disinterestedness  and  your  selfishness. 
See,  he  acts  from  love  to  God  and  a  benevolent  re- 
gard to  men  ;  you  from  a  regard  to  yourself  You 
do  what  is  agreeable,  convenient,  or  immediately 
advantageous ;  he  what  is  right,  what  the  revealed 
will  of  God  requires,  what  appears  to  be  duty,  what 
Christ  enjoins,  what  adherence  to  principle  and  con- 
sistency demand,  and  that  however  disagreeable,  in- 
convenient, or  disadvantageous  it  may  be.  tie  is 
influenced  by  a  supreme  respect  for  the  authority  of 
God,  and  prefers  the  approbation  of  the  Creator  to 
that  of  all  creatures.  You  have  no  such  fear  of  God 
before  your  eyes ;  you  trample  upon  his  authority 
and  laws,  when  they  stand  in  your  way ;  and  you 
love  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God, 
and,  for  the  sake  of  pleasing  men,  will  offend  God. 
His  aim  is  to  do  good,  your's  to  get  good.  To  enrich, 
gratify,  or  aggrandize  yourself  is  your  object.  His, 
is  to  glorify  God  and  bless  mankind.  He  lives  to 
the  Lord.  The  love  of  Christ  constrains  him  ;  but 
it  is  not  so  with  you.     Now,  whose  spirit  is  the  more 


196  NEVINS'    SERMOXS. 

excellent  ?  whose  principles  of  action  the  more  wor- 
thy ?  which  character  the  superior  ?  I  know  which 
is.  But  I  want  you  to  say  which  is.  Do  you  not 
feel  your  own  inferiority  7  Yes.  and  sinners  do 
often  secretly  despise  themselves  for  it.  Here  they 
see  one  denying  and  laboring  to  subdue  his  appe- 
tites, while  they  to  all  theirs  are  giving  the  rein  : 
and  the  time  that  they  spend  in  vanity,  they  see 
others  occupying  in  visits  of  charity  and  offices  of 
kindness  to  the  poor  and  neglected :  and  they  know 
that  they  are  wrong,  and  that  the  others  are  right. 
Their  own  consciences  condemn  them ;  and  hence 
their  unwillingness  to  let  the  case  come  before  con- 
science,  their  reluctance  to  look  at  themselves,  to 
ponder  their  hearts  and  to  weigh  their  actions. 
They  have  something  more  than  a  suspicion  what 
the  result  would  be.  I  wish  that  each  one  of  you 
would  look  back,  though  it  were  but  for  a  single  day, 
and  review  the  history  of  the  last  twenty-four  hours, 
and  see  what  you  think  of  it,  either  absolutely  or  in 
comparison  with  the  manner  in  which  that  space  has 
been  filled  up  by  many  a  Christian,  and  ought  to 
have  been  by  you. 

Look  at  the  devotional  ipsiVt  of  the  Christian's  char- 
acter. He  consecrates  a  portion  of  each  day  to  se- 
cret communion  with  God,  to  prayer,  confession  of 
sin  and  contrition  for  it.  to  the  grateful  recollections 
of  God's  goodness  to  him,  to  the  serious  reading  of 
the  word  of  God,  to  meditation  and  self  examination, 
and  to  intercession  for  you  and  others  ;  no  one  out 
of  the  little  circle  of  the  family  knows  it,  and  perhaps 
even  they  do  not.     He  makes  no  parade  of  his  devo- 


197 

tions.  God  alone  sees  what  passes  in  his  closet. 
Now  you  have  no  such  habits  of  devotion.  You 
have  nothing  to  say  to  God  in  the  way  of  prayer, 
confession,  or  thanksgiving.  You  live  without  God 
in  the  world.  Here  is  a  difference  between  you  and 
the  Christian.  On  which  side  is  the  superiority? 
Which  is  right  ?  Is  not  your  judgment  at  variance 
with  your  practice  ?  Do  you  not  decide  that  the 
conduct  of  the  Christian  is  the  more  filial,  the  more 
affectionate,  grateful,  reasonable  and  worthy  ? 

Look  now  at  the  Christian  in  his  family ;  and  recol- 
lect then  what  you  are  in  yours.  Hear  the  expression 
of  thanksgiving  and  the  invocation  of  blessing,  accom- 
panying the  reception  of  the  bounties  of  divine  Provi- 
dence. And  see  night  and  morning  the  household 
assembled  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  to  unite  in 
the  oifering  of  prayer  and  praise.  Now  is  this  right 
or  wrong?  Is  not  this  manner  of  conducting  the 
affairs  of  a  family  preferable  to  yours.  Does  not 
your  own  judgment  decide  against  the  course  you 
pursue  ? 

But  I  pass  on  from  the  character  to  the  condition 
of  the  Christian.  If  he  is  better  than  his  neighbor, 
so  it  is  better  with  him.  I  might  show  the  real  su- 
periority of  the  Christian's  condition  ;  but  that  is  not 
the  object  of  the  discourse.  The  object  is  to  make  out 
its  superiority,  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges, 
its  superiority  in  your  esteem  and  by  your  admission. 
And,  hence,  the  necessity  of  axonstantly  recurring  ap- 
peal to  you ;  several  things  pertain  to  a  man's  condition. 
1.  In  regard  to  safety^  is  not  the  condition  of 
the  Christian  superior  ?     Do  you  not  think  that  he 

i7» 


198  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

is  safer  than  you  are  ?  You  may  not  think  yourself 
in  any  very  great  danger,  but  is  he  in  any  danger  what- 
soever, he  whose  refuge  the  eternal  God  is,  underneath 
whom  are  the  everlasting  arms,  he  who  loves  God, 
and  is  one  of  the  called  according  to  his  purpose, 
concerning  whom  it  is  said  that  all  things  work 
toofether  for  his  good.  Have  not  vou  somethinor  to 
apprehend,  but  has  he  any  cause  for  fear,  to  whom 
God  says,  "  Fear  thou  not,  for  I  am  with  thee,  be  not 
dismayed  for  I  am  thy  God.""  Has  he  ever  said  that 
to  you  7  When  he  shall,  then  you  will  be  safe,  never 
till  then.  To  every  child  of  his.  he  has  said  it ;  and 
now  he  enjoys  the  favor  and  protection  of  an  all- 
seeing  and  almighty  God ;  no  evil  can  befall  him,  but 
by  permission  of  one  who  tenderly  loves  him,  and 
who  can  and  will  out  of  every  evil  so  permitted 
educe  a  far  greater  good.  He  who  has  God  for  him 
is  safer  from  natural  evil,  than  any  other  ;  and  safer 
from  sin  surely  is  he,  to  whom  it  is  promised,  "  Sin 
shall  not  have  dominion  over  you,  my  grace  is  suf- 
ficient for  you.  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you 
to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able,  but  will  with  the 
temptation  also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  bear  it."'  Could  not  your  condition  in  point  of 
salety  be  improved?  but  how  could  the  Christian's. 
2.  In  regard  to  peace,  I  would  ask  if  the 
Christian  has  not  the  advantage  of  you  ?  If  the 
testimony  of  God  is  to  be  relied  on  he  has  all  the  ad- 
vantage, implied  in  the  difference  between  great  peace 
and  no  peace,  for,  -  great  peace  have  they  who  love 
thy  law,"  it  is  said  in  one  place ;  and  in  another,  "there 
is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked  :"  he  being 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  199 

justified  by  faith  has  peace  with  God,  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  the  peace  of  God  that  passes 
understanding  keeps  his  heart  and  mind  through 
Christ  Jesus.  Tiiis  peace  is  the  bequest  of  Christ 
to  him,  and  he  calls  it  his  peace.  Have  you  any 
such  peace,  a  peace,  which  the  tribulations  of  this 
world  cannot  disturb,  for  Christ  says,  "  These  things 
have  I  said  to  you  that  in  me  ye  might  have  peace, 
in  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulations,  but  be  of  good 
cheer."  Do  you  know  any  thing  of  such  tran- 
quility ?  Is  not  this  far  before  the  philosophic  cahii  ? 
Candid  hearer,  do  you  think  that  the  real  Christian 
has  as  many  fears,  anxieties  and  disquietudes  as  you 
have  ?  that  his  bosom  is  as  easily  rufled  and  liable  to 
such  violent  agitations  asyours  ?  do  the  circumstances 
of  danger,  does  worldly  disappointment,  does  the 
prospect  of  death  trouble  him  as  it  does  you  ?  If 
something  should  whisper  in  your  ear,  "  This  night 
thy  soul  is  required  of  thee,"  do  you  think  you  could 
hear  it  with  as  much  composure,  as  he  whose  mind 
is  staid  on  God  ?  How  is  it  that  in  seasons  of  danger, 
in  the  hour  of  apprehended  shipwreck,  in  the  sudden 
invasion  of  sickness,  or  in  the  time  of  impending 
pestilence,  men  fall  upon  their  knees,  betake  them- 
selves to  the  Bible  and  ask  an  interest  in  the  prayers 
of  Christians  ?  Do  they  not  thereby  testify  that  the 
rock  of  their  reliance  is  not  as  our  rock  ? 

3.  In  point  of  consolation  in  affliction,  and  support 
under  the  trials  of  life,  has  not  the  Christian  an  ac- 
knowledged advantage  over  every  other  ?  Under- 
neath him  are  the  everlasting  arms.  What  equal 
support  have  you  ?     God  is  his  very  present  help  in 


200  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

trouble.  Who  is  yours  ?  Your  relative  ?  your  min- 
ister ?  He  is  a  poor  prop  ;  a  broken  reed  is  every  man. 
Have  you  any,  any  refuge  to  run  into  for  shelter 
when  the  storms  of  sorrow  beat  furiously  upon  you  ? 
Any  voice  like  that  of  the  Son  of  man,  to  say  to  you 
in  your  desponding  moments,  "  be  of  good  cheer  ;" 
any  hand,  like  God,  to  pass  over  your  streaming 
eyes,  and  wipe  all  tears  from  them  ?  When  all  earthly 
expectations  are  disappointed,  as  easily  and  at  once 
they  may  be,  what  hopes  have  you,  that  survive  this 
wreck  ?  The  Christian  has  one  left,  worth  all  the 
rest,  a  hope  full  of  immortality,  an  anchor  to  his  soul, 
and  one  that  will  never  make  him  ashamed  ;  when 
human  friends  die  or  desert  you,  what  friend  have 
you,  more  constant  than  a  brother  ;  and  what  por- 
tion left,  when  this  world's  fails  you  ?  And  now  we 
come  to  the  supposition  of  death,  soon  to  be  to  each 
of  us  more  than  mere  supposition.  Do  you  think 
that  you  are  as  well  prepared  to  die,  as  he  who  has 
committed  his  soul  to  the  care  and  keeping  of  Christ  ? 
Do  you  think  that  he  is  as  likely  to  be  troubled  with 
dying  regrets  as  you  ?  Do  you  think  that  he  will  la- 
ment in  that  hour,  the  seasons  spent  in  prayer  and 
devotion,  his  days  of  humiliation  and  nights  spent 
in  sorrow  for  sin,  his  strivings,  vigils,  self-denials 
and  sacrifices  for  Christ,  and  the  efforts  by  which  he 
aimed  at  spirituality  of  mind?  Do  you  not  rather 
think  that  you  will  lament  that  you  did  not  resem- 
ble him  in  these  respects  ?  If  your  last  sickness  were 
upon  you,  would  you  not  wish  to  be  in  the  place  of 
the  Christian  ?  Balaam,  one  of  your  men  of  the 
world,  expressed  his  preference  in  these  memorable 


201 

words,  "  l^et  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and 
let  my  last  end  be  like  his."  Did  you  never  conceive 
a  similar  wish  ?  And  what  does  this  prove,  but  your 
judgment  that  your  rock  is  not  as  his  rock  ?  You 
dare  not  trust  it  in  a  trying  moment.  You  are  sus- 
picious that  it  will  not  sustain  you.  You  fear  that 
it  is  but  sand.  But  do  you  think  the  same  of  the 
Christian's  rock,  Christ  Jesus  ?  Do  you  suspect  the 
stability  of  that  foundation?  Did  any  one  ever 
grieve  that  a  friend  or  relative  of  his  died  in  the  faith 
of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Is  there  a  parent,  so  unbelieving 
and  irreligious  himself,  that,  if  now  he  had  a  child 
dying,  he  would  not  be  comforted  to  hear  from  him 
the  expression  of  repentance  for  sin  and  reliance  on 
Christ  and  devotedness  to  him,  though  under  other 
circumstances  a  similar  declaration  from  his  child 
would  grieve  and  even  exasperate  him  ?  The  thing 
has  often  been  put  to  the  test.  An  infidel  of  some 
distinction  in  a  northern  state,  whose  wife  was  a 
woman  of  piety,  was  called  in  to  see  a  favorite  daugh- 
ter expire.  He  had  instructed  her  in  one  way,  the 
mother  in  another.  And  now  she  asked  him  in  the 
belief  of  whose  sentiments,  his,  or  her  mother's,  he 
would  prefer  to  have  her  die.  He  immediately  re- 
plied, "  Your  mother's."  Here  was  the  judgment  of 
an  enemy  that  Christianity  is  more  safe  and  suitable 
for  a  dying  hour,  than  infidelity. 

Shall  we  go  on  one  step  farther  ?  That  brings  us 
to  the  bar  of  God.  In  what  character,  think  you  it 
will  be  most  desirable  for  you  to  appear  there  ?  Do 
you  think   that  your  prospects  for  the  judgment  are 


202 


as  good  as  the  Christian's  ?  Do  you  really  think  yoa 
will  be  able  to  plead  your  cause  there  as  successfully 
as  Christ  can  ?  Will  his  advocacy  be  a  thing  to  be 
despised  then  ?  A  day  is  coming,  for  which  all  other 
days  were  made,  the  last  and  greatest  of  days,  the  day 
of  God,  in  which  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  melt. 
Wherefore  seeing  that  ye  look  for  such  things  what 
manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  ?  Here  the  appeal 
is  made  to  you,  and  your  opinion  is  asked.  What 
manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  7  Such  as  you 
are  ;  or  such  as  real  Christians  are  ? 

But  enough.  You  admit  that  the  condition  of  the 
Christian  is  superior  to  yours  ;  that  he  is  safer,  more 
peaceful,  more  comforted,  happier.  You  say,  no  life 
is  so  happy  as  his,  no  death  so  desirable,  no  one's 
prospect  for  eternity  so  bright  as  his  ;  and  the  course 
you  pursue  you  admit  is  vain  and  unprofitable,  and 
yet  you  will  go  on  in  it.  Will  you  ?-  If  it  were  the 
course  of  duty  ;  you  should  be  reconciled  to  it.  But 
it  is  a  course  equally  at  war  with  your  duty,  as  with 
your  interest.  And  will  you  persevere  in  it?  Yes, 
you  will ;  but  oh  !  Godj  shall  they  ?  Shall  they  'I 
Let  them  not. 

Shall  I  tell  you  who  the  Christian's  rock  is  ?  It  is 
Christ.  "  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay."  It  is 
spacious,  it  is  solid,  it  is  now  accessible.  Every  other 
rock  is  sand. 

Suppose  then  you  come  over  to  our  rock  ?  We 
cannot  leave  our  rock  and  go  to  you. 

But  am  I  on  it  ?  Let  me  try.  Let  me  compare  my 
character  with  that  required  in  the  Bible.     Come  over 


203 


to  it  now  ;  venture  on  it,  venture  wholly,  let  no  other 
trust  intrude.  Then  praise  the  rock,  being  fixed 
upon  it,  rock  of  God's  unchanging  love. 

Oh  !  that  ye  would.  Oh  !  that  you  cared  for  your- 
selves as  you  ought.  Oh  !  that  Christians  cared  for 
you,  as  they  should.  They  did  a  little  while  ago, 
seem  to  care  for  you,  and  God  spoke  peace  to  them. 
But  some  have  turned  again  to  folly  ;  so  soon  ;  and 
some  perhaps  have  gone  off  into  a  new  folly. 


SERMON    XV. 


What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee  "? — Micah  vi.  8. 


The  subject  brought  to  view  in  this  interrogation 
deserves,  if  any  subject  does  or  can  deserve  it,  your 
serious,  fixed,  and  deep  attention,  whoever  may 
treat  it,  and  however  it  may  be  treated.  The  claims 
of  God  on  man,  whether  he  have  any ;  if  any,  whe- 
ther he  asserts  them ;  and  what  they  are,  and  what  is 
the  character  of  them ;  how  they  have  been  regarded 
by  him  on  whom  they  are  made,  and  how  they 
ought  to  be  treated  by  him,  this  is  the  subject. 

1.  Has  God  any  claims  upon  you  ?  has  he  a  right 
to  require  any  thing  of  you,  if  it  should  seem  good 
to  him  so  to  do  ?  This  is  the  first  question  to  be 
settled  ;  and  it  may  be  done,  without  argument,  by 
appeal.  The  question  is,  whether  God  has  a  right  to 
dictate  to  you  what  shall  be  the  state  of  your  heart, 
and  the  character  of  your  conduct,  your  feelings  and 
your  doings ;  a  right  to  regulate,  limit,  and  control 
you  by  rules  and  laws ;  to  demand  this  homage  and 
that  service  of  you  ;  to  speak  to  you  in  the  impera- 
tive mood,  saying,  do  this,  and  abstain  from  that. 
Has  he  this  right,  or  would  he  usurp  a  prerogative 
that  does  not  appertain  to  him,  should  he  do  as  I 
have  said  ?     I  am  not  concerned  about  the  answer 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  205 

you  will  give  to  this  question.  I  am  confident  tliat 
your  unanimous  response  is,  "He  has  this  rio-ht." 
Well  then, 

2.  The  next  question  is, does  he  exercise  this  right, 
does  he  assert  any  claims  on  man,  or  has  he,  as 
some  would  say,  generously  waived  them  all?  Has 
he  actually  required  any  thing?  He  has  a  right  to 
hold  the  reins  in  his  hands ;  hut  does  he  hold  them, 
or  has  he  given  them  up  to  us  ?  If  you  are  a  be- 
liever in  revelation,  and,  in  this  Bible,  as  being  the 
word  of  God,  you  have  answered  the  question,  for 
you  can  scarcely  read  a  page  in  this  book,  without 
meeting  with  an  instance  of  the  exercise  of  this  right. 
You  find  God  every  where  speaking  imperatively  to 
his  creatures ;  giving  them  not  merely  counsels,  but 
authoritative  commands.  "  Thou  shalt,  and  thou 
shalt  not ;"  this  is  his  language  to  us.  You  admit 
then  that  God  has  claims  on  man,  and  that  he  as- 
serts them.  If  there  is  any  one  here  who  has 
doubts  in  regard  to  revealed  religion,  and  who, 
therefore,  while  he  admits  God's  right,  questions 
whether  he  has  exercised  it,  I  would  ask  of  him, 
whether,  the  existence  of  the  right  being  admitted, 
the  probabilities  are  not  altogether  in  favor  of  its  ex- 
ercise ;  and  whether  the  presumption  is  not  irresisti- 
bly strong,  when  it  is  considered  that  our  very  happi- 
ness depends  on  the  right  direction  of  our  affections, 
and  on  a  due  regulation  of  our  conduct  ?  Is  it  not  to 
be  presumed  that  God  has  thrown  the  weight  of  his 
authority  into  that  scale,  on  the  preponderance  of 
which  our  well-being  is  suspended,  and  that  he 
has  made  obligatory  by  his  express  command  that 
18 


206 


course,  which  the  highest  interests  of  the  soul  re- 
quire to  be  pursued  ?  In  short,  may  it  not  be  inferred 
from  the  benevolence  of  God,  that  he  does  exercise 
his  right  of  command  and  control  over  us  ?  And 
that  he  has  done  this,  have  we  not  distinct  intima- 
tions from  within  us,  in  the  operations  of  conscience  ? 
If  I  interpret  correctly  the  testimony  of  that  faculty, 
its  witness  is  not  merely  that  a  certain  course  is  right, 
but  that  it  is  also  pleasins^  to  a  superior  being,  and 
of  the  opposite  conduct,  not  merely  that  it  is  wrong, 
but  that  it  is  at  variance  with  the  will  of  that  Su- 
preme Intelligence,  which  we  call  God. 

3.  We  come  now  to  the  third  inquiry  in  order. 
What  are  the  claims  which  God  asserts  ?  In  Avhat 
manner  does  he  exercise  his  right  of  government 
over  us  ?  What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee  ?  I 
answer,  what  he  says  he  does.  It  is  a  subject  on 
which  he  has  spoken.  He  has  not  left  his  creatures 
to  the  necessity  of  excogitating  and  inferring  what 
his  will  concerning  them  is.  He  has  explicitly  de- 
clared it.  Soon  as  there  was  a  man  upon  earth  to 
receive  and  obey  his  orders,  they  were  proclaimed 
to  him.  And  God  has  never  left  the  world  without 
a  revelation.  It  is  not  his  fault  that  a  revelation  is 
not  universal  now,  but  the  fault  of  those  who  have 
it,  who  soon  could  make  it  universal  if  they  pleased. 
The  argument  in  favor  of  the  necessity  of  a  revela- 
tion, is  to  my  mind  irresistibly  cogent ;  and  from  the 
necessity  to  the  reality  of  a  revelation  we  pass  easily. 
And  I  find  most  abundant  testimony,  both  external 
and  internal,  that  the  revealed  will  of  God  is  expressed 
in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 


207 


Read  the  Bible  then.     That  answers  our  third  ques- 
tion.    It  answers  in  lon^  and  particular  detail  of 
things  to  be  done  and  to  be  avoided.     It  answers  it 
by  laying  down  general  principles  of  conduct,  which 
admit  of  an  easy  application  to  the  several  cases 
which  occur  in  the  progress  of  life.     It  answers  it 
sometimes  in  one  comprehensive  command.     "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
soul,  and  strength,  and  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself."     This  the  Lord  requires  of  thee ;  thy  su- 
preme love,  thy  choicest  affections,  thy  whole  heart, 
and  whatever  else  such  a  love  disposes  to  and  draws 
after  it.     The  law  is  spiritual ;  the  commandment  ex- 
ceeding broad.     We  have  to  do  with  one,  who  not 
only  weigheth  the  actions,  but  the  spirits  of  men. 
He  has  given  rules  for  the  regulation  not  only  of  our 
external  conduct,  and  all  of  it,  but  of  our  speech,  of 
our  thoughts,  our  motives,  our  principles  of  action, 
and  of  all  the  various  modifications  of  feeling.     We 
are  under  law  to  God,  and,  consequently,  accounta- 
ble to  him,  every  moment,  and  in  regard  to  every 
thing  that  is  thought,  felt,  said,  as  well  as  done  by 
us.     Now  God  requires  obedience  to  the  whole  of 
this  law  at  all  times.     He  allows  of  no  imperfection, 
or  interruption   in   our  obedience.     These  are  his 
claims.     In  the  exercise  of  his  right,  he  makes  this 
requisition.     And  now, 

4.  In  regard  to  the  character  of  these  claims  of 
God. 

1.  They  are  reasonable.  Their  reasonableness 
may  be  inferred  from  their  reality.  God  is  incapa- 
ble of  making  an  unreasonable  demand.     Their  rea- 


208  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

sonableness  is  asserted ;  "  his  commandments  are 
not  s^rievoiis  :  my  '  3^oke  is  easy.^  What  doth  the 
Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly  ;"  "  I  consent 
to  the  law  that  it  is  good,  says  one  ;  and  I  delight  in 
the  law  of  God,  after  the  inward  man."  If  any  one 
say  that  God's  claims  are  unreasonable,  we  throw  on 
him  the  burden  of  the  proof  that  they  are.  Let  him 
point  the  particular  claim  that  is  unreasonable  and 
show  that  it  is  so. 

2.  These  claims  are^^^r^ic^^/ar;  they  are  expressed 
in  the  singular  number,  "  thou  shalt."  They  are 
made  on  you  as  an  individual,  and  not  in  any  social 
capacity.  God  does  not  collect  all  his  sons  together 
and  then  say  to  them,  "  go  ye  and  work  to-day  in  my 
vineyard  ;"  but  he  comes  to  the  first  and  says,  "  go 
thouj"  and  then  to  the  second  and  says  likewise ;  he 
addresses  his  commands  singly  to  each  one. 

3.  His  claims  are  jyararnount.  In  every  com- 
parison they  deserve  to  have  the  pre-eminence ;  in 
every  competition  the  preference.  Here  I  may  ven- 
ture to  appeal  to  you.  Is  not  that  your  first  duty, 
which  you  owe  to  God?  Has  any  being  a  claim  on 
your  affections  and  services  prior  and  superior  to  that 
of  God?  Whom  should  you  love  rather  than  him  ? 
whom  more  than  him  ?  Ought  not  his  will  to  be 
done,  rather  than  that  of  any  other  being,  rather  than 
your  own,  or  your  friend's  or  your  parent's  ?  These 
questions  can  be  answered  in  only  one  manner. 

4.  These  claims  are  impartial.  God  asserts  them 
with  respect  to  every  intelligent  being,  and  with  re- 
spect to  each  the  same.  He  excepts  no  one,  over- 
looks no  one,  excuses  no  one,  and  of  each,  of  all, 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  209 

demands  the  same  supreme  love,  the  same  perfect 
and  perpetual  obedience  to  the  same  law. 

5.  They  are  unalterable^  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  forever.  We  may  change,  but  not  they  ; 
our  duty  is  the  same,  whatever  our  character.  God 
cannot  lower  his  demands,  to  adapt  them  to  our  in- 
clinations or  disabilities  This  then  is  the  character 
of  God's  claims  on  us  ;  and  the  next  question  is, 

6.  How  have  we  treated  them?  Have  we  done 
as  he  has  required  ?  There  may  possibly  be  one  in 
this  assembly  so  blinded  and  deluded  as  to  suppose  and 
say  that  he  has  practically  regarded  these  claims  and 
done  all  the  Lord  has  required  of  him.  I  trust,  how- 
ever, that  there  is  not  even  one  such  person.  I 
can  speak  for  one,  and  do  I  not  really  make  every 
one's  confession  when  I  say,  "  I  have  not  regarded 
the  claims  of  God.  I  have  not  done  what  he  has  re- 
quired. I  have  not  been  regulated  by  his  laws.  I 
have  not  rendered  that  homage  and  service  which, 
in  the  exercise  of  the  highest  right,  he  has  demanded 
of  me.  I  have  not  loved  him  with  all  my  heart.  I 
have  not  placed  my  affections  on  him.  I  am  a  sinner, 
whoever  is  not."  Well  then,  what  is  to  be  done  ? 
These  claims  are  unalterable,  and  they  have  been 
disregarded  ;  and  besides  there  is  a  penalty  threaten- 
ed to  be  inflicted  on  him  who  disregard?  them.  ''  The 
soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die.  Cursed  is  every  one 
that  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them."  It  is  easier  in  this  case  to 
say  what  is  to  be  suffered^  than  what  is  to  be  done. 
You  have  not  obeyed  the  precept.  You  must  sub- 
mit, therefore,  to  the   other  part  of  the  alternative. 

18* 


210  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

You  must  suffer  the  penalty.  Tliis  is  the  alternative 
which  every  government  presents,  to  obey  or  to  sufFer, 
obedience  or  punishment.  This  is  all  fair  enough. 
And  must  I  ?  I  will  go  and  cast  myself  at  his  feet,  I 
will  repent  and  make  my  confession  to  him,  and 
throw  my  soul  upon  his  mercy."  But  what  know 
you  of  the  mercy  of  God  ?  Where  learned  you  any 
thing  about  it?  Whence  have  you  the  assurance 
that  its  claims  will  be  preferred  to  those  of  justice  ? 
Why  should  they  ?  The  claims  of  justice  are  man- 
ifestly prior  to  those  of  mercy.  "  We  must  be  just  be- 
fore we  are  generous,"  acknowledged  principle  asserts. 
''  But  I  repent,"  you  say.  What  if  you  do,  does  that 
satisfy  the  claim?  Does  that  make  good  the  law?  Does 
repentance  pay  debts  ?  Is  repentance  equivalent  to 
a  perfect  obedience  ?  We  are  in  a  dilemma.  How 
shall  we  get  out  of  it  ?  The  Gospel  comes  in  and 
extricates  us  ;  blessed,  glorious  Gospel  !  The  only 
begotten  Son  of  God  was  for  us  made  under  the  law, 
and  has  met  and  satisfied  the  claims  of  God  on  us  ; 
he  obeyed  the  precept  perfectly  and  bore  the  pen- 
alty fully,  and  the  everlasting  righteousness  thus 
brought  in  by  him,  is  capable  of  being  reckoned  to 
sinners  in  whose  place  he  stood,  and  is  actually  placed 
to  the  account  of  every  one  that  believeth.  So  that 
now  he  who  said,  "  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  with  all 
thy  heart,"  and  "  cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth 
not ;"  without  either  repealing  that  law,  or  mitigating 
that  penalty,  can  and  does  say,  "  he  that  believeth 
shall  be  saved."  And  now  while  he  still  impera- 
tively says,  and  will  ever  continue  to  say,  "  thou 
shalt  love,"    yet    the    particular   claims  he  asserts 


211 


now  are  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  towards 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  God  now  commands  all  men 
everywhere  to  repent,  and  this  also  is  his  command- 
ment that  we  should  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  These  are  the  claims  which  this  day 
in  the  name  and  behalf  of  God  I  make  on  you.  He 
claims  by  me  now  that  each  of  you  repent  of  all  your 
sins  and  turn  from  them  unto  him,  and  believe  on 
Jesus  Christ  his  Son.  And  the  question  on  compli- 
ance or  non-compliance  is  to  be  taken  ;  and  every 
one  of  you  will  be  under  the  necessity  of  voting 
either  for  or  against  compliance  with  these  claims. 
No  one  of  you  will  be  excused  ;  no  one  can  put  him- 
self out  of  the  house,  and  if  you  will  aUow  me  to  con- 
tinue the  allusion,  the  ayes  alone  will  be  called  for. 
All  the  rest  will  be  reckoned  among  the  noes  ;  and  if 
any  man  votes  in  favor  of  a  postponement  of  the 
question,  he  votes  against  compliance,  for  the  post- 
ponement in  such  cases  is  always  indefinite. 

And  now  the  question.  Let  me  state  it.  You 
have  disregarded  and  practically  contemned  the  ori- 
ginal claims  of  God  on  your  soul.  You  have  not 
loved  him ;  you  have  disobeyed  and  rebelled  against 
him,  often  and  long,  wilfully  and  without  provoca- 
tion you  have  done  it.  Now,  are  you  sorry  for  it  ? 
Do  you  repent  and  grieve  before  God  that  you  have 
done  it  ?  Are  you  so  sorry  for  it,  that  you  intend  to 
do  so  no  more  ?  Are  you  willing  to  forsake  all  sin, 
and  to  return  to  your  allegiance  to  God  ?  Are  you 
ready  to  arise  and  go  to  your  father,  saying,  "  I  have 
sinned  against  heaven  ?"  And  are  you  willing  to 
accept  of  Jesus  Christ  as  your  substitute  and  surety, 


212 


to  be  cleansed  by  his  blood,  to  be  clothed  with  his 
righteousness,  to  be  subject  to  his  yoke,  to  sit  at  his 
feet  7  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,'^  Christ  says, 
"let  him  deny  himself  and  take  his  cross  and  follow 
me."  Are  you  ready  to  give  your  consent  to  that, 
and  to  be  evermore  liis  devoted  disciple  ;  and,  with 
your  body  and  spirit,  which  are  his,  to  glorify  God? 
I  do  not  ask  you  if  you  foresee  your  ability  to  do  all 
implied  in  this,  and  foresee  that  you  will  actually 
fulfill  all  that  this  resolution  imports,  but  I  ask  you 
in  regard  to  your  present  willingness.  God  will 
provide  for  the  rest." 

And  now,  having  stated  the  question,  let  me  briefly 
say  why  you  should  vote  affirmatively, 

1.  Because  you  ought  to  do  it ;  it  is  7'ight ;  it  is 
obligatory ;  and  what  is  more,  you  know  that  it  is  ; 
you  have  no  doubt  about  its  being  your  duty ;  and 
do  you  require  a  reason  additional  to  this?  Are 
you  one  of  them  that  hesitate,  after  they  have  found 
out  what  they  ought  to  do  ?     But, 

2.  I  will  ask  you,  is  it  safe  for  you,  a  creature  in 
the  power  of  God,  entirely  and  ever  dependant  on 
him,  to  refuse  compliance  with  his  explicit  and  au- 
thoritative claims  on  you  ?  Is  it  safe  7  Can  you 
have  his  approbation,  if  you  do  so  ?  Can  you  have 
your  own  ?  Can  you  be  at  peace  either  with  God 
or  with  yourself?  Can  you  expect  good  from  him? 
Have  you  not  every  reason  to  apprehend  evil  from 
his  hand?  Do  you  not  twice  deserve  it?  Is  it 
politic  to  refuse  compliance  with  his  commands  ? 
Is  it  prudent?  Will  it  turn  to  your  advantage? 
Will  your  happiness  be  promoted  by  it  ?     Is  it  hon- 


213 


oreihle  to  you  to  disregard  such  claims  on  you  ?  Is 
it  honest?  Consistent  with  being  the  noblest  work 
of  God,  to  pay  every  being  but  him  to  whom  we 
owe  most,  and  whose  claim  is  first  and  strongest  ? 
Finally,  is  it  grateful.  Is  it  the  way  in  which  you 
ought  to  treat  a  being  that  lias  been  so  good  to  you? 
Is  this  thy  kindness  to  thy  friend  ?  Do  you  tluis  re- 
quite the  Lord,  oh  !  foolish  people  and  unwise  ?  Is 
not  he  thy  Father  that  hath  bought  thee  ?  Hath  he 
not  made  thee  and  established  thee  ?" 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  in  favor  of  compli- 
ance. Andnowin  favor ofimmeo?ia/e compliance, and 
against  all  farther  postponement,  suffer  a  few  things. 

1.  These  claims  are  of  old  standing ;  and  they 
have  long,  long  been  disregarded  ;  and  they  have 
been  repeatedly  urged  ;  and  you  have  often  promised 
to  consider  them.  Indeed  you  have  already  exam- 
ined into  them  ;  and  the  validity  of  them  has  been 
admitted,  and  will  not  be  denied  by  any  one  now. 
In  similar  cases,  men  are  always  ready  for  the  ques- 
tion. Why  are  not  you  ?  The  truth  is.  you  are 
not  willing  to  comply  with  these  claims  ;  perhaps 
never  mean  to.  Well,  if  you  choose  to  suffer  rather 
than  obey,  you  can.  None  ofthe  reasons,  usually  urged 
in  favor  of  postponement,  can  be  urged  in  this  case. 

2.  The  interests  of  others  require  that  these  claims 
should  be  admitted  and  complied  with  without  de- 
lay. The  interests  of  your  children  and  of  all  over 
whom  you  have  influence  require  it. 

3.  It  is  doing  injustice  to  him  whose  claims  they 
are,  to  delay  compliance  with  them.  They  cannot 
be  so  fully  complied  with  by  any  future  determination 


214 


ill  their  favor.  They  require  that  tlie  whole  hfe  be 
spent  in  serving  and  glorifying  God,  and  the  present 
is  a  part  of  the  whole.  And  you  can  never  make 
amends  to  God  for  the  injury  you  do  him  and  his 
government  by  a  longer  continuance  in  disobedience, 
though  you  should  hereafter  become  a  penitent.  You 
are  incurring  a  loss  of  time  now  which  you  can  never 
redeem  ;  and  observe  that  it  is  his  time  that  you  are 
squandering ;  they  are  his  talents  that  you  are  suffer- 
ing to  be  idle.  The  pound  he  has  given  you  is 
gaining  nothing  for  him  now,  and  you  can  make  no 
such  profitable  investment  of  it  hereafter,  as  shall 
cover  the  present  loss. 

4.  These  claims  must  be  complied  with  very  soon, 
or  never.  There  will  be  an  end  not  to  his  rights 
over  you,  and  not  to  your  obligations  to  him,  but 
there  will  be  an  end  to  your  opportunities  of  dis- 
charging these  obligations.  Soon  he  will  cease  to 
call  upon  you  to  repent  and  to  believe  in  his  Son. 
He  will  not  violently  enforce  these  claims  on  you. 
But  there  is  another  set  of  claims  that  he  will  exact 
of  you.  He  will  not  exact  obedience,  but  punish- 
ment he  will.  Your  will  and  consent  are  necessary 
that  you  should  obey,  but  not  that  you  should  suffer. 
The  question  submitted  to  you  to-day,  for  decision, 
must  be  acted  on  very  soon,  or  the  claimant  will 
withdraw  it  forever,  and  the  session  will  terminate. 
Will  you  then  decide,  and  decide  now^  to  comply 
with  these  claims  ;  or  will  you  continue  to  resist  or 
to  neglect  them  ?  Will  you  ?  How  can  you  do  it  ? 
I  dare  not.  I  am  not  afraid  of  any  man,  but  God,  I 
confess,  I  fear,  and  am  not  ashamed  to  make  the 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  215 

confession.  But  not  fear  alone  :  gratitude  forbids 
me  longer  to  disregard  them.  Soon  I  must,  whether 
I  would  or  not,  meet  God.  How  can  I,  while  these 
claims  are  not  satisfied  ? 

Will  you  comply  with  them  ?  Will  you  do  what 
the  Lord  requires  of  you  ?  Do  not  ask  me  what  he 
requires  ?  W^ill  you  do  what  he  requires,  whatever 
it  be  ?  Will  the  rich  man  go  and  sell  all,  if  Christ 
should  say  so  ?  You  may  not  hesitate  because  of 
the  nature  of  the  claims.  The  question  is,  whether 
you  will  submit  to  them,  whatever  they  shall  appear 
to  be.  How  reasonable  it  is  that  you  should ;  that 
you  should  decide  on  doing  what  God  requires  of 
you  !     Is  it  possible  that  you  can  hesitate  ? 

Alas  !  unbelief,  a  secret,  but  most  efficient  unbe- 
lief, is  the  cause  of  all  our  want  of  success  with  you. 
If  what  I  assert  to-day  about  the  claims  of  God  on 
you,  were  believed,  either  you  would  immediately 
comply  with  them,  or  else  be  very  ill  at  ease  with 
yourselves  and  unhappy  in  the  resolution  not  to 
comply.  But  now  you  neither  comply,  nor  concern 
yourself  because  you  do  not. 

The  treatment  which  some  of  you  give  them,  you 
express  in  language  like  this  :  ^'Some  of  these  days 
I  hope  and  mean  to  comply  with  them."  Suppose 
you  should  treat  other  claims  in  this  manner.  Sup- 
pose that,  on  the  day,  a  note  falls  due,  you  should  go 
to  the  bank  and  say,  "  Some  of  these  days  I  hope  to 
pay  that  note,"  would  this  hinder  the  protest?  What 
trifling  it  would  be  !  Men  will  not  allow  themselves 
so  to  be  trifled  with.     Will   God  ?     You  will  find 


216  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

that  he  will  not.     These  claims  have  long  been  due. 

We  learn  hence  what  religion  is.  It  is  to  comply 
with  the  claims  of  God ;  and  conversion  is  the  begin- 
ning of  this  compliance  ;  and  repentance  is  sorrow 
for  not  not  having  complied  sooner  ;  Siud  faith  is  the 
act  by  which  we  rely  on  Christ  for  the  satisfaction 
of  all  past  claims.  How  reasonable  a  thing  then  is 
religion  !  Why,  it  is  to  become  an  honest  man  in 
one's  dealings  with  God.  That  is  all.  And  if  so, 
then  it  is  not  beneath  any  one  to  become  religious. 
And  it  is  no  laughing  matter  to  become  religious  ; 
and  those  that  make  sport  of  it,  must  themselves  be 
rogues,  since  rogues  only  ridicule  honesty. 

A  word  now  to  you  who  have  promised  compli- 
ance with  the  claims  of  God  on  you.  Remember  to 
promise  is  not  to  perform  :  and  betwixt  promise  and 
performance  the  interval  often  is  wide.  You  have 
each  of  you  said  in  reply  to  the  command  of  God, 
"Son  go  work,"  "  I  go,  sir,"  but  have  you  gone? 
You  know  what  the  Lord  requires  of  you,  to  do  just- 
ly, love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with  him  ;  to  deny 
all  ungodliness  and  to  live  soberly,  to  show  forth  the 
praises  of  him  who  has  called  you,  to  let  your  light 
shine  ;  that  you  should  be  blameless,  and  harm- 
less sons  of  God  without  rebuke.  This  is  the  will  of 
God,  even  your  sanctification.  So  is  the  will  of 
God,  that  with  well-doingye  should  put  to  silence  the 
ignorance  of  foolish  men  ;  to  speak  evil  of  no  man, 
to  be  kind,  tender-hearted  ;  havingyour  conversation 
honest  and  holy.  This  he  requires,  and  you  profess 
and  have  promised  to  do.     Are  you  doing  it  ?     He 


217 

requires  of  you  to  do  more  than  others  do ;  to  care 
for  the  souls  of  men,  to  labor  to  promote  his  cause 
and  kingdom. 

That  some  profess  and  promise  to  comply  with  the 
claims  of  God,  and  do  not,  is  no  reason  why  others 
should  not  comply  with  them.  And  yet  how  many 
continue  to  say,  '•  Oh  !  there  are  so  many  unworthy 
professors  ;"  and  therefore  you  will  be  an  unworthy 
non-professor.  '•  I  think  I  am  as  good  as  many  of 
your  professors  of  religion."  1  trust  you  are,  and  am 
sorry  that  you  are  contented  to  be  no  better.  "  Others 
do  not  comply  with  the  claims  of  God,  why  should 
I  ?"  What  if  they  do  not,  what  is  that  to  you  ? 
Will  you  not  die  alone  ?  Will  you  not  meet  God 
and  be  judged  alone  ?  Will  it  avail  you  then  that 
you  followed  a  multitude  to  do  evil ;  that  you  was  one 
of  many  that  were  in  rebellion  against  God  ;  and  that 
in  neglecting  rehgion,  you  only  did  as  did  others? 

Here  are  the  claims  of  God  on  your  soul.  You  see 
what  they  are,  and  how  valid  they  are,  and  now  the 
question  is,  will  you  comply  with  them  ?  "  Choose 
you  this  day  whom  you  will  serve,  but  as  for  me,  and 
my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord." 


19 


SERMON    XVI 


Oh !    *    *    *    *    how  often  would   I    *    *    *    *    and  ye  would  not, 
Luke  siii.  34. 


The  whole  verse  reads,  ••  Oh  !  Jerusalem.  Jem- 
riisalem,  which  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them 
that  are  sent  unto  thee  :  how  often  would  I  have 
gathered  thy  children  together,  as  a  hen  doth  gather 
her  brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not  !"' 

But  I  make  no  use  of  the  intermediate  words,  those 
I  have  repeated  expressing  the  ideas  to  which  I 
wish  particularly  to  draw  your  attention. 

The  salv^ation  of  the  soul  is  the  chief  concern,  the 
grand  problem  ;  the  first,  great,  and  almost  I  might 
say  only  thing  to  be  done  :  the  supreme  business  of 
life,  the  work  given  us  to  do.  He  who  has  not  done 
this,  has  done  nothing  to  any  purpose.  Infinitely 
worse  than  uselessly,  and  in  vain  he  lives,  whom 
death  overtakes  and  finds  it  undone. 

I  shall  not  stay  to  prove  that  you  have  a  soul,  and 
that  it  is  immortal,  and  that  it  is  fallen  and  lost,  a  soul 
both  cursed  and  corrupted  by  sin,  the  subject  of  a 
great  ruin  and  therefore  needing  a  great  salvation. 
I  may  assume  without  formal  proof,  what  the  entire 
volume  of  revelation,  and  the  whole  work  and  pas- 
sion of  Christ  proceed  upon  as  true. 

The  salvation  of  the  soul  of  man  has  excited  a 


219 

deep  and  thrilling  interest  wherever  the  history  of 
his  fall  and  ruin  has  been  made  known.  Much  has 
been  felt  about  it,  much  has  been  done  for  it ;  and 
still  more  suifered.  God  has  manifested  any  thing 
but  indiiference  to  the  immortal  interests  of  men. 
The  whole  trinity  has  been  employed  about  them ; 
and  all  holy  creatures  of  all  worlds  have  felt  and 
acted  in  concert.  Nothing  ever  awakened  a  con- 
cern so  deep  and  wide  ;  for  no  object  were  ever  such 
labors  undertaken,  and  such  sacrifices  made.  Still 
it  is  not  accomplished.  Some  indeed  are  saved,  but 
not  all,  not  the  greater  part ;  not,  I  suppose,  a  moiety 
of  this  assembly.  And  this  leads  me  to  observe,  that, 
The  salvation  of  the  soul,  after  all  that  has  been 
done  for  it,  depends  on  the  consc  nt  of  two  wills,  either 
of  which  dissenting,  it  is  not  and  cannot  be  accom- 
plished ;  the  will  of  him  that  saves,  and  the  will  of 
him  that  is  to  be  saved.  As  God  is  the  author  of  it, 
and  he  works  only  what  he  wills,  if  he  be  not  inclined 
favorably,  it  is  not  accomplished,  and  never  can  be 
however  much  the  soul  may  be  inclined  to  have  it 
accomplished.  There  is  a  sense,  as  I  shall  show 
you,  in  which  it  is  of  him  that  willeth,  but  there  is 
another  and  very  important  sense  in  which  "  it  is  not 
of  him  that  willeth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy." 
So  on  the  other  hand,  as  man  is  not  the  mere  pas- 
sive subject  of  salvation,  but  active  and  voluntary  in 
its  accomplishment,  it  is  equally  true  that  if  he  be 
obstinately  indisposed  to  it,  it  is  unaccomplished,  and 
while  he  remains  indisposed,  impracticable.  It  is 
manifest  from  the  nature  of  the  work  that  the  will  of 
the  sinner  must  concur  to  its  production.     In  every 


220  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

reconciliation  there  is  and  must  be  the  free  and  spon- 
taneous consent  of  both  the  parties.  A  forced  recon- 
ciliation is  no  recoDcihation.  And  hence  God  never 
attempts  to  compel  sinners  to  be  saved,  but  saves 
them  by  making  them  wilhng  in  the  day  of  his 
power  :  working  in  them  to  wiH  and  to  do  of  his  own 
good  pleasure  :  and  if  he  could  not  do  this,  he  could 
not  save  them.  The  principal  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  to  remove  from  the  heart  of  the  sinner^  his 
deep-rooted  indisposition. 

There  must  then  be  the  consent  of  both  the  par- 
ties. Both  must  be  willing.  If  only  one  is  willing, 
nothing  is  accomplished,  however  willing  he  may 
be.  Was  not  Christ  willing  to  gather  the  children 
of  Jerusalem  to  himself  ]  does  he  not  say,  "How  of- 
ten would  I,"  but  they  were  not  gathered,  because 
though  he  would,  they  would  not.  Some  are  absurd 
enough  to  infer  that  they  Avill  be  saved  beyond  all 
doubt,  because  Christ  is  so  willing  to  save  them  :  but 
was  he  not  willino^  to  save  the  inhabitants  of  .Terusa- 
lem,  and  yet  were  they  saved  ?  What  if  he  will,  if, 
at  the  same  time,  you  wil  Inot. 

Both  the  parties  must  be  willing,  and  I  add  they 
must  be  willing  at  the  same  time.  The  consent  of 
both  the  parties  must  be  coincident  in  point  of  time. 
If  they  are  willing  only  at  different  times,  they  might 
as  well  remain  unwilling.  If  when  one  is  ready  to 
be  reconciled,  the  other  is  not,  it  avails  nothing 
though  both  should  be  ready  at  some  time.  You 
may  think  that  this  is  a  case  which  can  never  occur  ; 
that  the  sinner  can  never  be  willing,  without  finding 
God  wilhng,  he  being  always  ready  with  his  consent 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  221 

to  the  reconciliation,  whenever  the  sinner  signifies 
his.  And  there  is  indeed  a  wiUingness  on  the  part 
of  the  sinner,  which  always  finds  God  wilhng,  but 
then  it  is  that  wiUingness  which  is  of  God's  own 
production ;  a  sincere,  penitent,  holy  willingness. 
But  there  is  also  a  willingness  of  which  the  same 
cannot  be  said.  It  does  not  always  find  God  willing. 
I  appeal  to  facts  in  proof  of  this.  Have  you  never 
been  yourself,  or  seen  another  m  some  sense  willing 
to  be  saved,  while  yet  there  was  no  manifest  inter- 
position of  God  to  save,  and  this  disposition  was  not 
met  by  him  by  any  thing  on  his  part  corresponding  to 
it  1  Is  not  this  the  very  case  contemplated  in  Proverbs  7 
"  Because  I  have  called  and  ye  refused,  I  will  mock 
when  your  fear  cometh  ;  then  shall  they  call  upon  me, 
but  I  will  not  answer."  Here  first  God  was  willing, 
and  in  testimony  of  his  willingness,  he  called,  he 
stretched  out  his  hand,  he  even  intreated,  as  well  as 
counselled  and  reproved ;  but  all  this  while,  and  a  long 
while  it  may  have  been  the  sinner  refused,  disregarded, 
set  at  nought,  yea  hated.  Then  afterwards,  when  his 
fear  came,  and  destruction  as  a  whirlwind,  and  dis- 
tress and  anguish  came  upon  him,  then  he  was  wil- 
ling, for  men  will  be  gracious  when  pangs  are  upon 
them,  and  he  called  and  he  sought ;  but  then  God 
refused,  he  would  not  answer,  he  would  not  be  found. 
Is  not  this  the  very  case  I  have  supposed  ?  both  the 
parties  ready  and  well-disposed,  yet  nothing  accom- 
plished, the  sinner  perishing ;  because,  just  because 
they  were  not  both  ready  at  the  same  time.  God 
was  ready  and  the  sinner  was  ready,  but  at  different 
times.     God  was  to  be  found  and  the  sinner  sought 

19* 


222 

him ;  but  he  did  not  seek  him  when  he  was  to  be 
found.  God  called  on  the  sinner,  and  the  sinner 
called  on  God  :  bat  when  God  called,  the  sinner  was 
inexorable ;  and  then  when  the  sinner  called,  God 
was  inexorable.  This  is  no  figment  of  mine.  It  is 
a  case  that  may  occur,  that  has  occurred.  It  may, 
and  I  fear  it  will,  be  realized  in  the  experience  of 
some  of  you. 

Now  he  is  willing,  but  you  are  not ;  he  ready,  you 
not  ready,  yet  he  calls,  but  you  will  not  hear  his 
voice,  nor  regard  his  outstretched  hand.  He  may 
be  found,  but  you  will  not  seek  him.  And  so  1  fear 
it  will  be  with  some  of  you  a  little  too  long.  I  fear 
you  will  never  be  willing  till  he  is  unwilling  ;  you 
not  ready  till  he  has  ceased  to  be  ready.  That 
you  will  seek  God  at  some  period  of  your  history, 
and  call  earnestly  upon  him,  I  have  not  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt,  and,  oh  !  that  you  would  do  it  now,  now 
while  he  is  near  and  may  be  found ;  but,  ah  !  I  fear 
you  will  not  seek  him  till  he  is  not  to  be  found  ;  and 
not  call  upon  him  until  he  is  out  of  hearing.  Oh  ! 
shall  it  be,  shall  it  be  ?  Will  you  wait  till  he,  wearied 
of  waiting,  has  gone  and  hid  himself  forever  from 
you  ?  Will  you  never  go  to  the  mercy  seat,  until  God 
has  left  it,  and  never  approach  the  fountain  opened 
for  sin  and  uncleanness,  until  it  is  sealed  and  shut 
up  forever  ?     Shall  it  be  so  ? 

And  here  I  am  reminded  of  another  error  that  I 
would  expose.  You  think  that,  if  you  ever  have 
any  disposition  towards  God  and  salvation,  all  will 
undoubtedly  be  well  with  you.  But  here  you  see 
that  you  may  have  some  such  disposition,  and  may 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  223 

call  on  God  and  seek  him,  and  yet  it  shall  be  totally 
unavailing.  And,  if  it  were  not  so,  where  would  be 
the  point  of  that  exhortation,  "Seek  ye  the  Lord 
while  he  may  be  found?"  Does  any  one  say  this 
is  very  discouraging?  So  it  is  ;  and  it  is  meant  to 
be  so.  But  whom  does  it  discourage  ?  Only  those 
that  are  meaning  to  seek  God  at  some  future  time  ; 
and  ought  they  not  to  be  discouraged?  Do  they 
expect  us  to  encourage  them  in  putting  oiF  what  God 
is  pressing  on  them  ?  Is  there  in  this  assembly  one 
that  is  saying,  "  Oh  !  that  I  knew  where  I  might 
find  him."  We  have  said  nothing  to  discourage  him. 
Or  is  there  one  just  gathering  up  himself  to  go  to 
Jesus  ?  We  have  said  nothing,  and  have  nothing  to 
say,  to  dishearten  him.     Let  him  go  on. 

Both  then  must  be  loilling^  and  sirnidtaneously 
willing.  And  now  I  add,  if  they  be,  salvation  is 
accomplished  immediately  and  necessarily.  When 
two  parties  that  had  been  at  variance  both  agree  on 
certain  terms  to  be  reconciled  to  each  other,  they  are 
by  that  very  agreement  reconciled.  If  those  sinners 
whom  Christ  says  he  would  have  often  gathered, 
had  been  willing  to  be  gathered,  would  they  not 
have  been  gathered  ?  What  more  was  wanting  but 
their  willingness  that  he  should  gather  them?  Gives 
he  any  other  reason  why  they  were  not  gathered, 
but  that  they  would  not?  He  would,  but  they 
would  not.  He  exculpates  himself  and  throws  the 
whole  blame  on  them.     "  Ye  would  not." 

It  follows  from  this  last  remark,  that,  if  there  be 
any  persons  in  this  house  unsaved,  not  gathered  to 


224 


Christ,  not  reconciled  to  God,  in  every  such  case 
this  agreement  does  not  exist,  but  one  of  the  parties 
is  not  disposed  to  the  reconciliation,  because,  if  it 
were  not  so,  no  such  case  could  exist  here.  The 
reconciliation  would  be  universal,  if  the  disposition 
to  be  reconciled  were  so. 

Now  there  are  in  this  house  such  persons.  There 
is  no  question  about  it.  Are  all  of  you  Christians  in 
the  Scriptural  sense  of  that  word,  followers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  servants  of  God,  penitents,  believers,  subjects 
of  reofeneration,  children,  and  heirs  of  the  Most  High  ? 
No,  by  no  means.  The  fact  is  otherwise.  The 
reason  of  the  fact,  then,  I  affirm  to  be,  that  there 
does  not  exist  that  concurrence  of  wills,  of  which  I 
have  been  speaking.  There  is  unwillingness  some- 
where. I  do  not  say  where  now,  but  somewhere. 
One  of  the  parties,  either  God  or  the  sinner,  is  indis- 
posed to  reconciliation.  Either  you,  hearer,  are  not 
wilUng  that  Christ  should  save  you,  or  else  Christ 
is  not  willing  to  save  you.  Which  is  it  that  is  un- 
willing ?  You  or  Jesus  Christ  ?  If  you  say  that  it 
is  not  you,  you,  in  effect,  say  that  it  is  he,  since  it 
must  be  he,  if  it  is  not  you.  Is  it  he  ?  Is  it  Christ  ? 
You  are  not  disposed  to  take  that  ground.  You 
hesitate  to  lay  the  blame  on  him.  And  yet  how  can 
it  be  you,  if  you  are  indeed  a  rational  being?  How 
can  you  be  unwilling  to  accept  of  such  a  gratuity  as 
salvation?  unwilling  to  have  all  your  sins  pardoned, 
and  to  be  made  an  object  of  the  divine  favor,  to  be 
delivered  from  the  wrath  to  come  and  from  the  sla- 
very of  sin,  and  to  become  an  heir  of  heaven,  how 


NEVINS'   SERMONS.  225 

can  you  be  ?  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  hesitate  to 
acknowledge  that  it  is  ^rou.  The  presumption  on 
many  accounts  is  that  the  unwilUng  one  is  Christ, 
rather  than  you.  It  seems  easier  to  suppose  that,  for 
some  good  and  wise  reasons,  he  is  not  wilhng  to 
save  you,  than  that  you  should  be  unwilling  to  let 
him  save  you.  When  a  negotiation  is  on  foot  to 
bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  two  parties, 
and  there  is  a  reluctance  in  one  of  the  parties,  the 
presumption  always  is,  that  the  reluctant  party  is 
not  the  inferior,  the  necessitous,  the  offending,  the 
suffering  party,  the  guilty,  the  one  that  is  to  gain 
every  thing  by  the  reconciliation.  No,  we  say  he 
cannot  be  the  reluctant  party,  the  one  that  hesi- 
tates ;  it  must  be  the  other.  And,  as  in  the  case  in 
hand,  you  are  the  inferior,  offending,  guilty,  ne- 
cessitous one,  and  the  one  that  is  to  be  the  gainer, 
the  presumption  is  that  the  unwillingness  is  not  on 
your  part,  but  rather  on  that  of  Christ.  This  is  the 
pres7i7nptio7i,  but  not  the/«c^.  The  fact  is  just  the 
reverse  of  the  anticipation.  Christ  is  the  willing  and 
well-disposed  party.  That  language  of  lamentation 
is  his.  That  interjection  of  grief  expresses  the  deep 
sorrows  of  his  bosom.  It  is  not  those  ill-fated  inhab- 
itants that  we  hear  lamenting  over  their  doom,  but 
it  is  Christ  that  laments  over  it.  The  concern  and 
the  grief  are  all  on  his  part.  It  is  not  they  that  say, 
"  How  often  would  we ;"  but  he  that  says,  ''  How 
often  would  I."  It  was  not  he,  but  they  that  would 
not.  And  he  can  most  sincerely  adopt  the  same 
affecting  language  in  reference  to  all  in  this  house 


226 


that  are  unsaved,  "  Oh  !  how  often  would  I,  and  ye 
would  not."  He  can  exculpate  himself  in  regard  to 
every  one  of  you.  Your  condition  is  not  what  it 
is  to-day  in  consequence  of  any  unwillingness  on 
the  part  of  Christ  to  make  it  better,  but  purely  be- 
cause ^rou  have  been  unwilling  that  he  should  im- 
prove it. 

There  is  no  one  here  to  whom  Christ  has  not  sig- 
nified his  willingness  to  save  him,  and  that  often. 
How  often,  he  says,  meaning  very  often  ;  how  often  ! 
he  calls  upon  us  to  see  and  admire  how  often ;  "  how 
often  would  I  have  done  that  for  you,  which  the  hen 
does  for  her  brood  ;  have  comforted  and  cherished 
and  protected  you  ;  how  often  !" 

Has  he  not  signified  his  willingness  to  save  you  ? 
Was  not  his  coming,  in  your  nature,  to  your  world 
for  the  single  purpose  of  saving  sinners,  a  testimony 
of  his  willingness  to  save  ?  Does  not  his  uniform 
language,  while  he  was  on  earth,  express  even  more 
than  willingness,  anxiety  to  save?  Can  he  be  un- 
willing to  save  those  Avhom  he  died  to  save  ?  If 
you  should  make  any  very  great  sacrifice  to  ben- 
efit another,  could  it  be  doubted  that  you  were 
disposed  to  benefit  him  ?  If  Christ  is  willing  to 
save  some,  why  not  you?  Has  he  excepted  you? 
Does  he  not  say,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest" — 
"  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely"—"  Whosoever  will,  let  him  come  ?"  Has  he 
not  given  as  many  testimonies  of  his  willingness  to 
save  you,  as  of  his  willingness  to  save  any  others  ? 


227 

Has  he  not  called  you  to  him  ?  Is  he  not  always 
caUino^  you  by  his  word  ?  Has  he  not  often  called 
you  by  his  providence  ?  and  sometimes  has  he  not 
stood  at  the  door  and  knocked,  and  waited  for  you 
to  open  it  and  admit  him  J  Has  not  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  sometimes  striven  with  you  ?  Do  you  think 
if  you  were  to  go  to  him  now,  that  he  would  reject 
you  ? 

Then  why  are  you  not  saved  ?  The  answer  is 
easy.  "  Ye  would  not."  When  heretofore  Christ 
would,  ye  would  not,  and  now  while  he  will,  "  ye 
will  not  come  unto  him  that  ye  might  have  life. 
This  expresses  the  true  state  of  the  case  in  regard  to 
every  unsaved  person  here.  He  is  the  reluctant 
party.  He  the  unwilUng  one.  The  sinner  declines 
the  proffered  terms.  He  will  not  consent  to  the 
reconciliation.  I  do  not  say  that  you  are  unwilling 
to  be  happy,  to  be  saved  from  such  a  place  as  hell  is 
described  to  be,  or  to  go  to  some  sort  of  heaven. 
Christ  does  not  say  this.  But  you  are  unwilling  to 
be  holy,  to  be  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  saved 
in  the  only  way  in  which  you  or  any  can  be  saved. 
You  are  unwilling  to  be  and  to  do  what  the  Chris- 
tian Scriptures  require  of  you. 

What  an  affecting  contrast  is  here  presented  ! 
^'  How  often  would  I,  and  ye  would  not."  The  Sa- 
viour willing;  the  sinner  unwiUing.  God  saying, 
"Hear,  oh  !  my  people,  and  I  will  testify  unto  thee, 
oh !  Israel,  if  thou  wilt  hearken  unto  me.  Oh  !  that 
my  people  had  hearkened  unto  me,  and  Israel  had 
walked  in  my  ways.  But  my  people  would  not 
hearken   to   my  voice,  and  Israel  would   none  of 


228 


me."  The  contrast !  Look  at  it ;  look  attentively. 
God  willing  to  be  reconciled  to  you,  and  you  un- 
willing to  be  reconciled  to  him.  He  oifering  you 
his  friendship,  and  you  unceremoniously  declining 
it.  He  giving  his  Son  to  die  for  you,  and  you  re- 
fusing to  accept  of  him.  Just  see  the  figure  you 
make  in  this  contrast.  See,  and  blush,  and  trem- 
ble ;  be  ashamed  and  be  afraid.  And  oh !  that 
you  might  be  differently  affected  too  j  that  you 
might  be  grieved  and  weep. 

Just  think,  sinner,  think  here,  and  go  home  and 
think,  why  you  are  not  now  a  child  of  God  and  an 
heir  of  heaven,  a  Christian  ;  that  it  is  because  you 
have  no  disposition  to  be  so  ;  no  inclination  to  it  in 
you,  that  is  at  all  worthy  of  that  name.  Let  your 
reflection  be  now,  what,  if  you  go  ou  in  your  present 
course,  it  will  forever  be,  "  I  perish  because  I  would 
not  go  to  Christ.  I  fall  by  my  own  hand."  Every 
subject  of  the  second  death  will  hereafter  appear  to 
have  been  a  suicide.  Will  you  be  one  ?  Will  you 
sink  to  hell  under  the  infamy  and  self-reproach  of 
having  been  a  self-soul  murderer  ?  Oh  !  turn  from 
your  murderous  intent ;  stay  the  hand  you  have 
lifted  against  yourself  Spare,  oh  !  spare  your  soul  ! 
Be  willing. 

Shall  that  obstacle  remain,  when  every  other  is 
removed  out  of  the  way  ?  Shall  your  will  oppose, 
when  nothing  else  opposes  ?  Resolve  that  that  shall 
not  remain  to  obstruct. 

It  is  characteristic  of  Christians  that  the  same 
mind  which  was  in  Christ,  is  also  in  them.  They 
symyathize  with  him.     Then  do  ye  sympathize  with 


NEVINS^    SERMONS.  229 

him  in  this  sorrow  ?  Lament  with  him  over  fallen 
and  lost  sinners.  Behold  them  and  be  grieved. 
Look   at   their  character ;  look   at  their   prospects. 

And  pray  that  God  would  make  them  willing,  for 
for  this  he  will  be  inquired  of  to  do  it  for  us. 

"  Dear  Saviour !  draw  reluctant  hearts." 


20 


SERMON    XVII 


What  wilt  thou  say,  when  he  shall  punish  thee  ? — Jeremiah  xiii.  21. 


It  was  in  view  of  certain  threatened  calamities 
that  were  to  come  on  Judah  from  the  hand  of  the 
Lord,  that  this  question  is  asked  of  her,  '^  what  wilt 
thou  say?  now  wilt  thou  justify,  or  excuse  thyself? 
what  reasonable  complaint  will  you  be  ahle  to  make, 
in  the  day  that  God  shall  visit  upon  thee,  when 
these  threatenings  are  executed,  when  he  shall  pun- 
ish thee  ?"  Think  now  what  you  will  be  able  to  say. 
Consider  the  case,  and  prepare  your  plea.  Will  you 
be  able  to  say  any  thing  ? 

I  put  this  question  now  to  each  impenitent  person 
in  this  assembly,  to  each  individual  present  who  is 
not  obeying  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  if  I  should  say  to 
all  the  wicked  I  put  it,  perhaps  many  of  you  would 
improperly  except  yourselves  from  the  number  de- 
signated by  that  odious  term  ;  and  therefore  I  use 
the  other  language.  What  wilt  thoii  say,  dying  as 
thou  art  living,  appearing  before  God  in  judgment 
as  thou  appearest  to  him  now,  continuing  impenitent, 
persisting  in  disobedience  to  the  Gospel,  if  the  char- 
acter thou  carriest  into  eternity  be  that  which  you 
are  now  forming  for  it;  on  this  condition,  a  condition 
but  too  probable,  and  becoming  more  so  every  day, 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  231 

what  wilt  thou  say,  when  the  season  of  the  Lord's 
long  suffering  shall  close,  and  he  who  has  long  waited 
to  be  gracious  to  you,  now  waits  no  longer ;  and  the 
sceptre  of  mercy  which  he  extended  to  you,  and  you 
would  not  touch,  is  exchanged  for  the  sword  of 
justice,  and  he  who  delighteth  in  mercy,  proceedeth 
to  that  which  is  his  strange  work,  when  those  hands 
of  the  living  God  that  were  held  out  to  thee  in 
entreaty,  and  were  ready  to  clasp  thee  to  that  bosom, 
thou  fearfully  fallest  into,  in  the  day  that  he  will  deal 
with  thee  in  judgment ;  who  would  not  be  dealt  with 
in  mercy,  when  he  shall  punish  thee,  and  the  pangs 
of  a  begun  perdition  come  upon  thee,  then  what  wilt 
thou  say,  for  thou  wilt  be  permitted  to  speak,  if  thou 
hast  any  thing  to  say,  why  the  long  suspended  sen- 
tence of  justice  against  thee,  should  not  be  executed  ? 
What  wilt  thou  say  ? 

Bat  perhaps  you  have  no  faith  in  future  pun- 
ishment ;  perhaps  you  do  not  beljeve  that  you,  or 
any  sinner  will  ever  be  brought  into  these  circum- 
stances.    Then  you  have  no  faith  in  the  veracity  of 
God,  or  in  the  Bible  as  his  word,  for  it  is  written, 
«'  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting   punishment ; 
except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish.     The 
Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  taking 
vengeance   on  them  who  know  not   God,  and  that 
obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who 
shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  ;"  and 
much  more  to  the  same  amount  is  written.     And  it 
is  all  explicit.  What  will  you  do  with  that  word  pu7i- 
ishment,  3iud  that  phrase  everlasting  fimishment 7 
Explain  them  away?    You  cannot.  Expunge  them  ? 


232  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

you  can,  but  for  the  same  reason  another  may  ex- 
punge everlasting  life;  you  may  and  should  expunge 
the  whole.  You  do  not  believe  in  future  punish- 
ment? Neither  did  the  antediluvians.  Neither  did 
the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  the  plain  ;  but  punish- 
ment came,  notwithstanding  their  unbelief  You 
are  fulfiUers  of  prophecy,  for  it  is  said  (1.  Peter  iii.) 
there  should  be  such  as  you.  But  you  say, 
the  belief  is  unreasonable  ;  it  conflicts  with  all  our 
ideas  of  benevolence  and  justice.  What !  that  a 
righteous  moral  governor  should  punish  incorrigi- 
ble offenders,  sinners  that  will  not  repent,  rebels  that 
refuse  to  be  reconciled  to  him,  though  often  invited, 
and  earnestly  entreated,  and  long  waited  for,  and  the 
mean  while  most  kindly  dealt  with  by  their  injured 
sovereign,  and  when  the  terms  of  reconciliation  are 
easy  as  they  could  be  made,  and  the  whole  expense 
of  bringing  it  about  is  borne  by  God  !  Is  it  un- 
reasonable and  contrary  to  what  is  just  and  benevo- 
lent to  punish  such  ?  It  were  hard  then  to  say  what 
is  reasonable,  and  what  comports  with  justice  and 
benevolence,  if  this  does  not.  There  is  a  way  of 
talking  on  this  subject,  adopted  even  by  sensible  men, 
which,  but  for  its  melancholy  consequences,  might 
well  be  smiled  at  for  its  silliness.  They  do  not  be- 
lieve that  God  ever  made  a  man  to  punish  him ;  as  if 
it  followed  from  that  that  he  never  made  a  man 
whom  he  will  punish.  True,  he  never  made  a  man 
to  punish  him,  neither  did  he  ever  make  a  man  to 
deserve  punishment.  He  made  no  soul  to  suffer^ 
neither  to  5m.  But  men  have  sinned,  and  they  do 
suffer  ;  and  God  has  declared  that  they  shall  suffer, 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  233 

not  ill  fulfillment  of  his  original  design  in  their  crea« 
tion,  but  in  righteous  retribution  for  their  manifold 
and  un repented  sins.  He  made  men  to  be  happy, 
not  only  hereafter,  but  here  too  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  he  created  them  capable  of  making  themselves 
miserable ;  and  we  see  they  have  done  it  for  this  life 
and  who  shall  say  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  free 
agency  they  may  not  do  it  for  that  life  which  is  to 
come  ?  The  reasoning  which  I  oppose  is  much  as  if 
a  hard  drinker  should  say,  "  I  do  not  believe  that 
God  ever  made  a  man  to  die  a  sot,"  and  so  sustained 
by  his  logic,  he  goes  on  drinking  deeper  and  deeper, 
and  finds  at  last  that  the  benevolence  of  God  will  not 
preserve  him  from  the  natural  tendency  or  just  pun- 
ishment of  his  misdeeds.  But  to  an  assembly  of  per- 
sons professino^  faith  in  the  Bible,  what  more  is  neces- 
sary than  to  adduce  an  explicit  declaration  of  God 
that  he  will  punish  ;  and  this  has  been  done  as  in  the 
text.  "When,  therefore,  he  shall  punish."  It  is 
not  said  "  if  he  should,"  but  "  when  he  shall ;"  he 
will  do  it.  Do  you  not  sometimes  fear  that  he  will  ? 
Does  your  conscience  within  you  never  forebode  evil 
from  him?  Does  it  not  sometimes  intimate  to  you 
that  God  may  treat  you,  as  that  same  authority  pro- 
nounces that  you  deserve  ?  for  whose  heart  does  not 
condemn  him  ?  and  God  is  greater  than  our  heart  and 
knoweth  all  thingrs. 

Wheii  then  wi\[  you  say?  The  question  is  not, 
what  now  you  have  to  say,  for  now  you  imagine 
you  have  a  great  deal  to  say.  And  some  can  speak 
long  and  fluently  in  a  strain  of  self-exculpation  ;  but 
then,  when  confronted  with  your  Maker  and  Judge; 
20* 


234  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

and  when  all  things  are  seen  by  the  clear  and  search- 
ing lio^ht  of  eternity;  then,  what  wilt  thou  say? 
Anticipate  the  answer  you  will  then  give  ;  consider 
and  con  over  the  plea  you  will  offer  then.  What 
will  you  say  ? 

My  object  is  to  show  you  that  none  of  the  pleas, 
which,  under  such  circumstances,  are  usually  offered, 
will  you  be  able  to  allege  ;  that,  in  short,  you  will 
be  unable  to  say  any  thing ;  and  that,  by  your  speech- 
lessness before  the  throne,  you  will,  however  reluc- 
tantly, justify  the  sentence  which  consigns  you  to 
destruction.     What  wilt  thou  say  ? 

You  will  not  be  able  to  say  that  you  were  ignorant 
of  the  existence  of  the  law,  for  the  transgression  of 
which  you  are  condemned.  You  know  now  that 
God  has,  in  the  capacity  of  your  sovereign  and  moral 
governor,  enacted  a  law,  the  great  principles  of  which 
he  has  written  upon  the  heart,  and  the  details  of 
which  constitute  a  portion  of  his  external  revelation. 

Nor  can  you  say  that  this  law  is  unintelligihle. 
Whatever  obscurity  attaches  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  none  rests  on  its  precepts.  Who,  having  a  heart, 
cannot  comprehend  what  is  meant  by,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself?"  Who  knoweth  not  what  he 
would  have  others  do  to  him,  and,  consequently, 
what  he  should  do  to  them  ?  And  doth  not  nature 
itself  distinctly  intimate  how  a  dependant  and  highly 
favored  creature,  like  one  of  you,  should  feel  and  act 
towards  his  supreme  benefactor.     Unintelligible  ! 

Nor,  again,  can  you  reasonably  complain  of  the 
character  of  this  law.     "  The  law  is  holy  and  the 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  235 

commandment  holy,  just,  and  g^ood."  Its  spirit  is 
love  ;  its  tendency  happiness.  That  one  word,  in 
which  all  the  law  is  comprehended,  children  what 
is  it  ?  Is  it  equity  ?  No ;  it  is  love.  It  is  all  it 
ought  to  be.  It  is  nothing  it  should  not  be.  Wherein 
could  it  be  amended  ?  Which  of  its  requirements 
ought  to  be  dispensed  with  ?  What  one  of  its  de- 
mands lowered  in  the  least  ? 

Nor  can  you  complain  of  any  want  of  adaptation 
in  this  law  ;  that  it  transcends  your  capacities,  ex- 
ceeds your  natural  powers  of  performance.  No  ; 
you  want  no  new  faculty  to  obey  it  perfectly.  You 
want  only  a  rectified  heart.  You  want  but  the  will. 
It  suits  every  thing  belonging  to  you  but  your  in- 
clinations. No  man  could  ever  say  that,  with  every 
disposition  to  obey  it,  he  was  unable. 

You  cannot  plead  ignorance  of  its  'penalty.  It 
would  not  avail  you,  if  you  could,  for  the  grand 
reason  why  you  should  obey  the  law  of  God,  is  not 
derived  from  its  penalty.  But  you  know  that  it  has 
a  penalty,  and  what  the  penalty  is.  You  read  "  the 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.  Cursed  is  every  one 
who  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them."  It  seems  to  you  excessive, 
and  yet  it  does  not  deter  yovi  from  sin.  You  cannot 
say  that  you  were  not  warned,  of  the  consequences 
of  disobedience ;  and  that  God  strikes,  before  he 
speaks.  No  :  he  speaks  first,  and  often,  and  long, 
and  loud,  and  terrifically,  and  affectionately,  and 
only  strikes,  when  all  has  been  said  in  vain,  and  then 
reluctantly,  for  he  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
the  wicked.     How  often  hast  thou  not  been  warned, 


236  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

and  by  how  many  voices,  some  external,  and  one 
still  and  small  within  thee,  and  reasoned  with,  en- 
treated, expostulated  with  !  AVhat  has  not  been 
done  to  deter  and  to  dissuade  you  from  sinning? 
What  obstructions  have  not  been  thrown  in  your 
way  to  destruction  !  But  you  surmount  them  all. 
What  then  wilt  thou  say,  when  he  shall  punish  thee? 

That  you  have  never  transgressed  this  law,  or 
only  once,  or  but  seldom,  and  then  inadvertently, 
through  infirmity  ?  This  you  will  not  say  ;  you 
cannot.  Who  has  not  sinned  many  times,  and  de- 
liberately ?  What  if  you  were  strongly  tempted  ; 
you  were  not  necessitated  to  sin  :  and  if  there  were 
impulses  that  urged  you  on,  were  there  not  also  re- 
straints to  keep  you  back  ?  Why  should  not  these 
have  prevailed  rather  than  those  ?  Will  you  plead 
a  corrupt  nature  as  your  apology  ?  The  Psalmist 
recognizes  that  truth,  but  he  does  not  plead  it  in 
exculpation.  And  it  is  certain  that  God  will  not 
receive  it  as  a  valid  apology.  Why  then  should 
you  urge  it  ]  Ouglit  it  to  be  received?  Should  the 
sinfulness  of  your  heart  justify  the  sinfulness  of 
your  life  ?  Can  the  strength  of  your  propensity  to 
evil  excuse  your  actual  evil  doings  ? 

Will  you  say  that  your  sin  did  no  harm,  injured 
no  one,  no  one  but  God  ?  But  you  must  allow  the 
law-giver  to  be  the  judge  of  that.  The  consequences 
of  a  particular  sin  he  alone  is  able  to  trace  out. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  inoifensive  sin.  Adam 
might  have  urged  this  plea,  with  as  much  propriety 
as  any  one  of  his  offspring.  What  parent,  whose 
authority  has  been  diregarded  in  a  particular  instance 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  237 

by  a  child,  will  accept  from  hini  the  plea  that  his 
offence  injured  no  one  ? 

Will  you  be  able  to  say,  that,  when  you  had  sin- 
ned, God  hastened  the  execution  of  the  sentence 
against  you  ;  struck  the  blow  immediately,  waited 
not  for  a  second  offence,  and  gave  you  no  opportu- 
nity to  evade  the  stroke;  that,  as  soon  as  you  found 
you  had  sinned,  you  were  sorry,  and  penitently 
sought  his  face,  but  was  spurned  away,  and  that  you 
found  no  place  for  reconciliation  with  him,  though 
you  sought  it  carefully  with  tears ;  and  that,  seeing 
your  case  to  be  hopeless,  you  went  on  sinning  in 
despair  ;  that  God  showed  no  disposition  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  you,  and  did  nothing  to  promote  a  reconcilia- 
tion ;  and  that  even  after  your  sin,  God  dealt  only 
unkindly  with  you,  spake  only  roughlv  to  you, 
looked  only  frowningly  upon  you,  and  just  barely 
supported  you  in  being,  grudging  you  every  comfort,  or 
distilling  good  into  your  cup  only  drop  by  drop,  in- 
stead of  filling  it  to  overflowing  with  his  bounty  ?  In 
short  that  refuge  failed  you,  and  no  one  cared  for  your 
soul?  Wilt  thou  say  this?  Canyon?  Has  God  show- 
ed no  disposition  to  be  reconciled  to  you  ?  What  ! 
when  "  he  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  or)ly 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life  ;"  when  he  spared 
not  his  own  Son  !  Has  he  done  nothing,  has  he  not 
done  every  thing  to  bring  about  reconciliation  ?  done, 
until  he  asks  "  what  more  could  have  been  done,  that 
I  have  not  done  ?"  And  now  he  beseeches  you  to  be 
reconciled  to  him,  and  requires  in  order  to  reconcili- 
ation, only  that  which  is  involved  in  reconciliation, 


238  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

your  repentance  and  submission  to  him.  And  he 
waits  long  with  you,  gives  you  ample  time  for  re- 
flection and  decision ;  and  the  meanwhile  looks 
benevolently  towards  you,  speaks  soothingly  to  you, 
calls  you  his  son,  his  daughter,  and  treats  you  as  a 
father  does  a  child,  and  follows  you  with  such  affec- 
tionate importunity  that  if  a  man  were  equally  ur- 
gent with  you,  you  would  suspect  him  of  being  in- 
fluenced by  some  sinister  and  selfish  motive  ;  and 
the  first  faint  sigh  of  the  sorrowful  heart  he  hears, 
and  the  feeble  resolution  to  arise  and  go  back  he 
encourages  and  strengthens,  and  goes  out  himself  to 
meet  the  returning  penitent,  interrupts  his  confession, 
embraces  him,  honors  him,  rejoices  over  him.  Ah 
what  wilt  thou  say,  when  he  shall  punish  thee  ? 
That  refuge  failed  thee  ?  What,  when  there  was 
this  refuge,  Jesus  Christ,  open,  accessible,  and  ample, 
the  stronghold  of  his  righteousness  to  which  you 
were  invited  to  turn  ?  That  no  one  cared  for  thy 
soul  ?  Ah,  did  not  God  care  for  it  when  he  so  loved 
the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life  ?  Did  not  Christ  care  for  it  when 
in  Gethsemane  he  agonized  and  on  Calvary  bled  for 
souls?  And  would  the  Holy  Spirit  follow  and 
strive  with  thee  as  he  does,  if  he  cared  not  for  your 
soul  7  Would  angels  rejoice  in  the  repentance  of 
the  soul,  if  they  cared  not  for  it?  Ah,  you  are  not 
that  friendless,  deserted  being,  that  no  one  cares  for 
you.  There  are  many  now  on  earth  who  care  for 
you.  Faithful  ministers  care  for  you  and  therefore 
they  plead  with  you.     Real  Christians  care  for  you, 


239 


and  therefore  in  secret  pray  and  meet  to  pray  for 
you.  And  have  you  no  pious  mother  that  carethfor 
you,  whose  tears  daily  fall,  and  prayers  ascend  for 
you  ?  or  is  she  now  in  heaven,  there  with  angels, 
waitina^,  wishing,  rejoicing  and  wishing  it  was  her  son 
and  daughter  'I  No  one  careth  for  you  !  You  would 
not  believe  us,  if  we  were  to  tell  you  the  concern  that 
we  have  for  you.  No  one  careth  for  you  !  Ah  it  is 
only  infernal  spirits,  selfish  men  and  yourself  that  do 
not  care  for  you. 

What  will  you  say  ?  That  there  was  an  irre- 
versible divine  decree  that  stood  an  insurmount- 
able obstruction  in  your  way  to  heaven,  and  even 
impelled  you  in  the  downward  direction?  You 
will  see  by  the  light  of  eternity  that  that  was  not  the 
case,  nor  indeed  the  doctrine  of  those  who  were  sup- 
posed to  hold  it.  I  hesitate  not  to  say  that  no  pur- 
pose of  God  stands  in  the  way  of  any  soul's  salva- 
tion. The  decrees  of  God  are  promotive  of  salvation, 
not  obstructive  of  it.  Predestination  is  unto  life. 
Men  are  not  chosen  to  be  lost,  but  to  be  saved. 
What  is  reprobation,  but  God's  determination  to  pun- 
ish incorrigible  offenders,  and  you,  if  you  are  one. 
And  can  you  object  to  that  ?  Can  you  complain  that 
God  purposes  to  punish  all  who  obstinately  refuse  to 
repent,  and  obey  the  Gospel  ? 

What  then  wilt  thou  say,  when  he  shall  punish 
thee  ?  I  can  think  of  nothing,  nothing  exculpatory, 
nothing  extenuating.  You  will  be  speechless,  as  he 
was  whom  the  king  when  he  came  in  to  see  the 
guests,  asked  how  he  came  in  thither  not  having  on 
a  wedding  garment.     Yes,  you  will  be  silent,  not 


240 


through  inUmidation,  but  from  conviction,  not  as 
unable  to  speak,  but  as  having  nothing  to  say ;  self- 
condemned,  as  well  as  condemned  by  your  judge  ; 
conscience  consenting  to  and  confirming  the  de- 
cision against  you,  and  your  ovvnself  through  all 
eternity  reproaching  you,  and  thus  engendering 
and  nourishing  a  worm  gnawing  within  worse  than 
the  fire  that  shall  burn  about  you.  And  shall  it  come 
to  this  ?  Shall  this  be  the  issue  of  life  ?  Will  any 
of  you  lie  down  in  sorrow,  and  dwell  with  devouring 
fire  ?  You  will^  you  must^  excopt  you  repent  and  be 
converted.  The  Lord  God  gracious  and  merciful, 
will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.  He  does  not 
desire  to  punish  you.  That  he  has  shown  you,  he 
is  long  suffering  because  he  is  not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance, 
but  if  you  will  not  come  to  repentance  while  there  is 
space  for  it,  his  determination  is  taken  that  you  shall 
perish.  He  would  that  you  should  turn  and  live  ; 
but  if  you  will  not  turn,  you  must  die.  And  it  is 
justihdX  you  should;  yea  more  than  just.  Jesus 
consents  to  it,  and  mercy  while  she  laments  the  ne- 
cessity, approves  and  acquiesces  in  the  doom. 

Is  there  truth  in  what  I  have  said  ?  And  do  you 
believe  it  ?  And  shall  it  not  affect  you  ?  Will  you, 
can  you  remain  any  longer  unconcerned  and  inac- 
tive ?  Is  it  possible  that  you  can  sleep  on  under 
such  circumstances  ?  Will  you  not  awake  and 
arise,  and  attempt  something  this  very  day  ;  and  not 
wait,  and  not  defer,  but  act  and  act  immediately? 
Remember  that  the  way  to  get  repentance  is  to  ex- 
ercise it;  and  the  way  to  obtain  faith  is  to  believe; 


241 

and  that  there  is  no  other  manner  of  entering  at  the 
strait  gate,  but  by  striving.  I  call  upon  you  now 
and  here  to  make  the  secret,  solemn  resolution  that 
you  will  seek  and  serve  the  Lord  your  God.  I  ask 
you  not  to  express  audibly  the  purpose.  I  ask  you 
not  to  rise  up  in  token  of  the  resolution  being  made. 
But  I  ask  you,  I  exhort  you,  I  beseech  you  to  breathe 
it  now  into  the  listening  ear  of  God.  Say,  oh  !  say, 
"I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father."  Fear  not  to 
make  the  resolution,  rather  fear  not  to  make  it.  Will 
you  refuse,  will  you  resist  the  Spirit  of  God?  Re- 
member he  will  not  always  strive  with  you  ? 

I  solicit  the  prayers  of  Christians  here  especially 
in  behalf  of  any  that  may  this  day  form  the  resolu- 
tion to  return  to  God.  And  may  he  have  mercy  upon 
you  all. 


21 


SERMON    XVIII. 


Out  of  thy  own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee. — Litke  xix.  22. 


In  that  part  of  the  parable  of  the  talents  in  which 
the  Lord  of  the  servants  replies  to  the  apology  of 
the  third  servant,  his  answer  is  worthy  of  our  solemn 
consideration.  The  fact,  as  related  in  the  parable, 
is  shortly  this.  The  third  servant  offers  as  a  reason 
for  letting  his  talent  lie  idle,  and  giving  himself  no 
concern  to  promote  the  interests  and  secure  the  ap- 
probation of  his  Lord,  that  he  esteemed  him  a  hard 
and  austere  man,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  reaping 
where  he  had  not  sown,  and  of  taking  up  where  he 
had  not  laid  down.  In  reply  to  which,  his  Lord,  in 
place  of  repelling  the  false  and  injurious  accusation, 
upbraids  him  with  the  insufficiency  of  his  reason,  on 
the  supposition  of  its  being  true,  alleges  his  inabil- 
ity to  defend  himself  on  his  own  ground,  and  con- 
victs him  of  having  acted  inconsistently  with  his 
own  avowed  belief  "  Out  of  thy  own  mouth,"  that 
is,  by  thy  own  confessions,  reasoning  with  thee  on 
thy  own  false  and  unworthy  principles,  ''will  I  judge 
thee." 

Now  the  general  truth  that  I  would  deduce  from 
this  narative,  and  endeavor  to  establish,  may  be  ex- 
pressed in  these  terms.     That  insensibility  and  inac- 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  243 

tion  with  which  mankind  are  to  so  great  an  extent 
chargeable,  as  touching  religion,  are  indefensible  on 
every  ground,  unsusceptible  of  apology  from  any 
quarter,  and  incapable  of  being  justified  on  any  prin- 
ciples whatsoever,  being  inconsistent  with  what  is 
enjoined  by  every  man's  belief,  however  loose  and 
erroneous  it  may  be.  Preachers  of  our  cast  and 
connexion  are  not  unfrequently  complained  of,  as 
being  too  precise  in  our  statements  of  duty,  too  rigid 
in  our  interpretations  of  Scripture,  too  austere  in 
our  views,  and  too  unsparing  in  our  condemnations. 
We  are  supposed  to  be  in  the  habit  of  representing 
the  principles  of  the  divine  government  of  moral 
agents,  as  more  strict  and  severe  than  they  are,  in 
reality,  and  of  placing  the  standard  of  the  final  judg- 
ment altoofether  higher  than  the  Judo^e  himself  will 
place  it ;  and  our  hearers  are  sometimes  offended, 
and  they  feel  discouraged,  and  they  say  with  a  kind 
of  indignant  despair,  "Who  then  can  be  saved?" 
Who  can  realize  such  a  virtue  ?  Who  bear  such  a 
measurement  ?  Who  can  pass  through  so  fiery  a  trial 
and  be  unconsumed?  And  some  of  you,  perhaps, 
feel  inclined  to  seek  another  and  a  less  troublesome 
style  of  sermonizing.  Well,  my  hearers,  you  shall 
not  have  this  complaint  to  make  to-day.  We  will 
try  you  to-day  by  nothing  more  sublime  or  more 
severe  than  your  own  common  confessions  and  your 
own  acknowledged  principles  ;  and,  if  you  are  cast, 
you  shall  not  have  to  charge  it  on  the  Bible,  or  on 
any  sectarian  interpretation  of  it.  We  will  not  go, 
as  our  manner  is,  to  the  unaccomodating  word  of  God 
for  the  criteria ;  but  you  shall  say  what  they  shall 


244  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

be,  and  may  choose  the  standard  by  which  you  will 
be  judged  ;  and  out  of  the  declarations  of  your  own 
mouths  will  we  judge  you.  And  what  if  you  should 
be  condemned  even  by  these?  You  acknowledge 
that  you  will  have  every  thing  to  dread  from  the 
issuesofthe  judgment  day,  if  our  interpretations  of  the 
word  of  God  be  correct ;  but  what  if  it  shall  appear 
in  the  result  of  this  day's  inquiry,  that  you  will  equally 
have  every  thing  to  apprehend,  if  no  other  principles 
are  recognized  and  adhered  to  in  the  final  judgment, 
but  what  are  universally  held  and  daily  acted  upon 
in  the  cabinet,  and  the  counting-house,  and  the 
work-shop,  and  have  always  been  in  force  among 
men  of  all  sorts  and  professions  ?  What  if  we  shall 
be  able  to  prove  that,  in  the  solemn  and  momentous 
affair  of  religion,  you  set  at  nought  the  truths  which 
guide  you,  and  the  principles  which  govern  you  in 
every  other  affair,  and  without  any  good  reason  for 
it,  act  totally  unlike  yourselves,  when  the  soul  and 
immortality  are  the  matters  in  question?  If  it  can 
be  proved,  it  is  worth  your  while  to  weigh  the  evi~ 
den(ie,  and  to  ponder  seriously  on  the  conclusion. 

I  would  not  exao;gerate  the  fact  on  which  my  ob- 
servations proceed.  I  would  be  far  from  misrepre- 
senting the  state  of  the  human  muid,  as  it  stands 
affected  to  religion.  I  would  not,  by  a  single  shade,, 
darken  beyond  the  actual  reality  the  picture  of  its 
insensibility  and  inertness  ;  but  is  it  not  a  fact  that 
generally  speaking,  and  with  very  few  exceptions^ 
the  great  truths  of  religion  are  almost  without  place 
in  the  thoughts  and  without  power  over  the  affec- 
tions of  men  ?     Has  not  something  frozen  the  heart 


245 

into  insensibility  on  this  subject,  and  benumbed  the 
faculties  of  the  soul  into  inaction  ?  Whether  you 
look  abroad,  or  turn  the  eye  inward,  do  you  find  any 
matter  of  great  importance  and  general  concern,  to 
which  the  bulk  of  mankind  feel  so  indifferently,  and 
in  which  they  act  so  indolently  ?  Are  we  not  some- 
times amazed  at  the  degree  of  our  own  unconcern  ? 
And  when  we  come  out  of  a  state  of  thoughtless 
security,  is  not  our  own  insensibility  the  first  thing 
of  which  we  become  sensible  ?  I  will  not  suppose 
the  fact  questionable,  but  proceed  immediately  to 
enumerate  the  common  and  acknowledged  principles 
which  are  set  at  nought  and  sinned  against  by  this 
insensibility. 

1.  It  is  a  principle  universally  admitted  among 
men  that  every  subject  should  receive  a  degree 
of  attention  proportioned  to  its  intrinsic  magnitude 
and  our  personal  interest  in  it ;  and  in  things  purely 
secular,  they  endeavor  to-  carry  this  principle  into 
practice.  A  subject,  in  which  they  have  no  personal 
concern,  will  sometimes  attract  their  attention  by 
reason  of  its  abstract  magnitude,  and  the  address 
which  it  makes  to  the  principle  of  curiosity  in  man. 
Every  subject,  however  trifling  in  itself,  engages 
them,  if  they  have  an  interest  embarked  in  it.  But 
if  the  subject  be  itself  grand,  and  the  value  of  their 
stake  in  it  great,  then  it  assumes  a  paramount  con- 
sequence in  their  estimation,  and  occupies  the  chief 
place  in  the  soul.  And  it  is  so  just  and  so  natural 
that  this  should  be  the  case,  that  every  one  is  willing 
to  have  his  conformity  to  this  principle  put  to  the 
test.  But  will  not  this  principle  condemn  your  in- 
21* 


246  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

sensibility  to  religion  ?  By  religion,  I  mean  here  not 
the  peculiarities  of  the  Christian  or  any  other  system, 
I  use  the  term  in  a  more  liberal  and  enlarged  sense  as- 
expressive  of  our  relations,  our  duties,  our  interests^ 
and  our  prospects  as  accountable  and  immortal  be- 
ings ;  and  now  I  ask  if  the  subject,  which  comprehends 
these,  is  in  itself  so  insignificant,  or,  in  its  relation  to 
man,  so  theoretical,  that  it  is  undeserving  of  any 
more  attention  than  what  he  bestows  upon  it  ?  I  ask 
if  it  is  not  the  subject,  in  comparison  with  which  all 
other  subjects  are  little  and  mean,  and  to  man  unin- 
teresting ?  Does  it  not  spread  wider,  tower  higher^ 
and  reach  farther  than  any  other  ?  Its  object  is  Godj 
its  field  is  the  universe,  and  its  duration  is  eternity. 
Whatever  be  your  belief,  it  does  not  affect  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  subject,  or  diminish  the  interest 
which  you  have  and  which  you  ought  to  feel  in  it. 
The  mode  of  your  belief  can  only  change  the  nature 
of  the  interest  you  have  in  it.  Atheistic  indifference 
and  infidel  insensibility  are  as  indefensible  as  the 
same  states  of  mind  in  connexion  with  any  other 
creed.  If  there  is  no  God,  that  discovery  ought  to 
affect  the  mind  as  powerfully,  as  the  finding  that 
there  is  one,  only  in  a  different  manner.  There  is 
as  much  in  the  belief  of  annihilation  to  affect  the 
heart  as  there  is  in  the  cherished  sentiment  of  im- 
mortality, and  infinitely  more  in  the  one  than  in  the 
other  to  trouble  it.  In  the  latter  doctrine,  whatever 
be  our  views  of  the  immortal  state,  whether  cheerful 
or  sad,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  every  thing 
to  interest  and  engage  us  both  as  speculative  and 
sensitive  beings.     If  we  are  certain  of  a  happy  futu- 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  247 

rity,  can  that  justify  our  insensibility  and  our  prac- 
tical irreligion,  and  our  devotedness  to  the  world? 
Should  the  heir  of  heaven  cleave  so  closely  to  the 
earth?  Wliy  is  he  not  weary  of  his  minority  ?  "The 
heir,  as  long  as  he  is  a  child,  differeth  nothing:  from 
a  servant."  If  he  is  not  certain  of  being  happy 
hereafter,  yet  ought  he  not  to  be  concerned  to  make 
it  certain  ;  and  if  the  subject  does  not  admit  of  cer- 
tainty, yet  ought  not  the  uncertainty,  in  which  he  is 
doomed  to  continue  until  the  moment  of  his  enter- 
ing on  his  future  condition,  to  fill  him  with  concern  ? 
Let  me  lay  the  truth  fairly  before  you.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  most  brittle  and  precarious  thing 
in  nature,  is  all  that  separates  us  from  an  eternal 
condition  of  happiness,  or  of  misery,  or  of  nonentity, 
and  that  in  one  of  the  three  we  shall  be  in  a  few 
years,  and  may  be  to-morrow.  Now,  whether  we 
know  which  one  of  them  shall  be  our  portion  or 
know  it  not,  it  is  in  either  case  unreasonable  and  un- 
natural to  remain  in  a  state  of  unconcern  and 
thoughtless  indifference.  Two  of  these  conditions 
are  abhorrent  to  our  nature,  and  one  of  them  is  in- 
finitely undesirable.  The  bare  possibility  that  the 
last  may  be  our  condition,  is  distressing  to  the  soul ; 
and  if  there  be  any  thing  within  the  compass  of  our 
knowledge  which  goes  to  create  a  probability  that  it 
may  be  ours,  every  such  consideration  ought  to  in- 
crease our  concern.  Now,  does  not  the  incontro- 
vertible fact  that  we  are  sinners,  diminish  the  proba- 
bility, to  say  the  least,  of  our  being  destined  heaven- 
ward? Does  not  God  sometimes  punish  sinners? 
Are  you  ignorant  of  history  ?     Are  you  perfectly 


248 


sure  that  there  is  no  truth  in  the  Bible  ?  May  he 
not  punish  sin  in  a  future  world  ?  Would  it  be  won- 
derful if  God  should  treat  us  as  we  deserve  ?  May  it 
not  be  strictly  right  for  him  to  do,  what  might  be 
very  painful  to  us  ? 

What  is  heaven,  the  character  of  its  inhabitants, 
the  kind  of  its  joys  ?  Are  we  qualified  for  it  ?  Are 
we  qualifying  for  it  ?  Is  it  certain  that  Jesus  Christ 
never  existed,  or  that  he  was  not  the  Son  of  God, 
or  that  he  never  said,  ''  strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow 
the  way  and  few  find  it  ?"  I  could  continue  until 
nightfall  these  questions  and  these  suggestions,  and 
every  one  of  them  should  be  calculated  to  create 
painful  doubt  in  the  mind  as  to  your  futurity  and  to 
deepen  the  darkness  of  your  prospects  for  eternity, 
and  every  one  of  them  should  be  such  as  no  reflect- 
ing man  of  honest  mind  can  be  regardless  of  There 
is  indeed  one  character  that  may  rise  superior  to 
doubt  and  look  forward  with  confidence  and  triumph, 
but  he  is  a  Christian  in  such  a  sense  as  few  are,  and 
he  is  infinitely  far  from  that  insensibihty  which  I 
arraign.  But  not  to  dwell  too  long  on  this,  I  pass  to 
another  principle  of  common  life, 

2.  Which  is  sinned  against  in  religion,  that  of  em- 
ploying the  present  for  the  advantage  of  the  future. 
What  man  of  you  is  there  whose  schemes  do  not 
contemplate  the  future,  and  whose  labors  do  not  look 
to  that  which  is  to  come  ?  Who  of  you  is  satisfied 
to-day,  if  you  have  not  laid  up  something  in  store  for 
to-morrow  ?  Who  is  in  the  habit  of  leavinor  it  for 
the  morrow  to  take  care  of  the  things  of  itself  in 
every  sense  of  that  phrase  ?     Do  you  not  anticipate 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  249 

its  wants  and  endeavor  to  guard  against  its  accidents, 
and  often  are  not  your  anxieties  for  the  time  to  come 
far  more  fatiguing  to  you  than  the  cares  which  re- 
spect the  present  ?  And  is  not  all  this  so  reasonable 
and  so  requisite,  that  you  despise  the  man  who  is  not 
careful  and  provident  for  the  future  ?  How  then  can 
you  justify  yourselves  in  not  carrying  this  habit  into 
religion,  and  pushing  this  principle  a  little  farther  ? 
Why  stop  you  short  at  death  ?  If  there  is  a  future 
beyond  the  grave,  why  is  it  not  as  reasonable  and  as 
requisite  that  provision  should  be  made  for  it,  as  well 
as  for  that  which  is  on  this  side  of  it  ?  Why  do  not 
your  plans  embrace  the  eternal  future  ?  Why  do 
you  not  labor  and  lay  up  for  it  ?  Wherefore  so  much 
carefulness  and  so  provident  a  regard  for  the  days 
that  shall  precede  death,  and  none  for  the  duration 
that  is  to  ensue  upon  it  ?  Why  may  not  neglect  and 
improvidence  in  the  latter  case  be  as  disastrous  as 
they  are  known  to  be  in  the  former  ?  If  to-morrow 
shall  be  an  addition  to  life,  it  has  been  consulted  for, 
and  provided  against,  but  if  it  should  chance  to  be 
the  beginning  of  immortality,  it  has  no  provision 
made  for  it,  it  has  no  stock  laid  by  for  it.  Why  is 
one  class  of  your  affairs  left  at  such  loose  ends? 
Why  has  not  the  accident  of  death,  if  I  may  so  call 
it,  been  guarded  against  ?  Can  nothing  be  done 
now  that  shall  have  a  felicitous  bearing  on  that  ulte- 
rior future,  and  are  you  therefore  unconcerned  and 
inactive  about  it?  It  is  not  so.  A  course  of  action, 
a  plan  of  life  may  be  readily  suggested  that  shall  be 
as  propitious  to  our  interests  in  eternity,  as  any  that 
can  be  pursued  is  conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the 


250 


next  week  or  the  next  year.  There  is  as  intimate  a 
connexion  between  our  present  doings  and  the  hap- 
piness or  misery  of  the  fartherest  future,  as  of  the 
nearest  future.  We  have  full  as  much  encourage- 
ment to  be  anxious,  inquisitive  and  dihgent  for 
eternity,  as  for  the  time  that  separates  us  from  it.  Is 
eternity  less  certain  than  the  time  to  come  ?  It  is 
more  certain.  We  are  sure  that  we  shall  live  for- 
ever, but  not  sure  that  we  shall  live  till  morrow.  Is 
eternity  less  important  than  time  ?  It  is  infinitely 
more  so.  May  we  confidently  trust  God  for  all  that 
is  beyond  the  grave  and  give  ourselves  no  concern 
about  it  ?  Why  not  then  as  unreservedly  confide  in 
him  for  that  which  is  antecedent  to  it  ?  Ah  we  know 
that  disgrace  and  disaster  would  ensue  upon  that, 
and  that  it  would  be  the  ruin  of  every  thing  tempo- 
ral to  trust  God,  without  at  the  same  time  tasking 
ourselves  ;  and  how  know  we  but  that  an  indolent 
confidence  in  God  will  be  just  as  destructive  to  our 
spiritual  and  eternal  interests  ?  Is  not  the  presump- 
tion in  favor  of  it  ? 

3.  And  here  I  am  reminded  of  another  inconsis- 
tency into  which  many  fall.  I  refer  to  the  unjustifia- 
ble and  unauthorized  use  which  they  make  of  the 
fact  of  the  divine  benevolence  in  their  speculations 
upon  religion.  A  use  which  they  would  blush  to 
make  of  it  in  reference  to  any  other  subject.  What 
would  you  think  of  the  man  who  should  found  all  his 
expectations  of  health,  and  afliuence,  and  happiness, 
on  the  simple  fact  of  the  divine  benignity,  and  should 
infer  from  the  truth  that  God  is  good,  that  he  shall 
never  know  want  or  feel  pain  ?     Would  he  not  be 


251 

regarded  by  you  as  the  miserable  victim  of  a  deplo- 
rable infatuation?  Yet  some  among  you  are  calcu- 
lating on  an  acquittal  at  the  day  of  judgment,  and  a 
ready  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  for  no 
other  reason,  and  have  not  a  hope  beyond  the  grave 
but  what  is  based  upon  the  pure  fact  that  God  is  a 
benevolent  and  merciful  being.  Because  he  is  good, 
they  confidently  conclude  that  they  cannot  perish 
and  so  give  themselves  no  farther  concern  about  the 
matter.  The  conclusion  is  wholly  unauthorized  by 
the  premises.  We  might  as  well  infer  from  the 
goodness  of  God,  that  there  has  never  been  any  suf- 
fering in  the  world,  that  sin  has  no  existence,  and 
that  all  mankind  are  this  moment  as  happy  as  they 
are  capable  of  being,  in  defiance  of  the  notorious  fact 
to  the  contrary.  If  the  premises  will  justify  the 
other  conclusion,  they  will  justify  this.  If  because 
God  is  good  I  may  be  certain  that  I  shall  be  happy 
in  eternity,  I  may  for  the  same  reason  infer  that  I 
shall  be  happy  to-morrow  and  the  next  day  and 
throughout  life.  If  my  persuasion  that  God  wishes 
well  to  his  creatures  may  reconcile  me  to  be  uncon- 
cerned and  inactive  for  eternity,  I  am  chargeable 
with  gross  inconsistency  if  I  do  not  suffer  it  to  re- 
concile me  to  an  equal  unconcern  and  inaction  for  all 
of  time  that  remaineth  to  me.  Why  do  I  labor  for 
my  daily  bread,  why  am  I  careful  for  any  thing,  why 
do  I  not  let  all  my  faculties  sleep,  why  do  I  not 
spare  myself  all  anxiety  and  exertion  for  any  thing, 
if  the  truth  of  his  goodness  will  bear  such  an  in- 
ference ?  The  conclusion  is  unwarranted,  else  the 
old  world  had  not  been  deluged,  nor  the  cities  of  the 


252  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

plain  buried  in  fire,  and  Jerusalem  had  never  fallen. 
God  is  as  good  when  he  threatens  as  when  he  promi- 
ses, and  as  good  while  he  executes  his  threatenings 
as  while  he  fulfills  his  promises.  Yes,  and  he  may 
shut  all  the  wicked  out  of  heaven  without  disparage- 
ment to  his  goodness. 

4.  There  is  another  common  prmciple  unhesita- 
tingly admitted  among  men,  on  which  I  would  re- 
mark in  this  connexion,  as  being  denied  a  place 
among  the  first  truths  of  religion  ;  the  principle  of 
not  expecting  any  acquisition  of  considerable  value 
without  much  precedent  labor  and  pains  taken  for  it. 
Who  calculates  on  riches,  honors,  literature  and  phi- 
losophy as  immediate  communications  from  God? 
Who  does  not  expect  and  is  not  contented  to  toil 
long  and  laboriously  for  them?  What  man  is  igno- 
rant that  it  is  not  simply  by  the  divine  blessing,  that 
he  may  ordinarily  hope  to  come  into  the  possession 
of  any  earthly  good,  but  by  that  blessing  upon  his 
own  exertions  ?  And  does  not  the  same  law  hold  in 
religion?  Why  then  is  it  practically  disregard- 
ed? Why  are  you  expecting  to  be  enriched  with 
the  opulence  of  the  skies,  and  to  be  learned  in 
the  love  of  heaven,  ay,  to  be  made  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  forever  and  ever,  without  putting  forth  any 
efforts,  and  making  any  spiritual  struggle  for  it  ?  Did 
the  Son  of  God  repeal  this  old  law  of  nature  ?  What ! 
when  he  said,  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth 
violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force  ;"  or  "strive 
to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  ;"  or  did  he  commission 
his  apostles  to  release  souls  from  the  obligation  of  it  ? 
What !  when  he  directs  them  to  say,  "  work  out  your 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  253 

salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ;  let  us  labor  to 
enter  into  that  rest ;  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight 
and  run  our  race  with  patience,  and  give  all  dili- 
gence to  make  our  calling  and  election  sure.''  How, 
at  the  last  day,  will  ye  be  able  to  apologize  for  the  in- 
dolent expectation  of  heaven  ?  How  answer  to  the 
charge  of  having  set  aside  that  law  of  nature,  and 
reason,  and  inspired  religion,  which  indissolubly 
connects  human  efforts  with  human  attainments,  and 
which  forbids  man  to  hope  for  that  for  which  he  does 
not  labor?  Ah !  when  your  history  shall  be  unrolled, 
and  it  is  seen  with  how  much  assiduity  and  anxiety 
you  pursued  after  earthly  good,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  with  how  much  unconcern  you  looked  for- 
ward to  that  which  is  heavenly,  will  it  not  be  in  the 
power  of  the  Judge  to  condemn  you  out  of  your  own 
history  ? 

5.  There  is  yet  one  other  principle  of  common 
Hfe,  which,  we  have  to  complain,  is  not  acted  upon 
in  religion.  It  is  that  of  adopting  always  the  safer 
course.  In  our  secular  affairs,  we  have  not  at  all 
times  absolute  certainty  to  guide  us.  It  frequently 
happens  that  we  find  ourselves  in  a  dilemma,  in 
which  we  must  take  one  of  two  courses,  and  we 
know  not  which  we  ought  to  take.  In  such  cases 
we  carefully  inquire  and  estimate,  and  we  finally 
adopt  that  which  has  the  stronger  probability  in  fa- 
vor of  it.  Now,  in  our  opinion,  there  is  no  such  di- 
lemma in  religion.  We  need  not  act  upon  an  uncer- 
tainty. The  course  that  it  is  our  duty  and  our  inter- 
est to  pursue,  is  strongly  marked.  But  if,  in  your 
opinion,  there  is  such  a  dilemma,  and  you  see  two 

22 


254 


ways  before  you,  of  which  you  know  not  the  one 
that  you  ought  to  take,  ought  you  not  to  apply  the 
same  principle  here  that  you  act  upon  in  the  com- 
mon affairs  of  life?  Is  it  not  unquestionably  your 
duty  to  inquire,  and  to  compare,  and  to  estimate  the 
probabilities  in  favor  of  each,  and  to  be  influenced 
by  what  shall  be  found  the  stronger  reason  ?  But  do 
you  so,  and  do  you  adopt  what  appears  to  you  the 
safer  course  ?  Is  not  such  a  manner  of  life  as  the 
Scriptures  recommend,  (even  honest  infidels  them- 
selves being  judges,)  more  likely  to  bring  you  to  a 
happy  end  than  any  other  7  Is  it  not  safer  to  be  de- 
vout than  to  be  undevout  ?  to  be  just  than  to  be  un- 
just ?  to  be  chaste  than  to  be  unchaste  ?  to  be  a  man 
of  prayer  than  to  be  a  man  of  profaneness  ?  an  ob- 
server of  the  Sabbath  than  a  violator  of  the  same  ? 
Is  it  not  safer  to  adopt  the  Christian  system  than  to 
reject  it  ?  to  be  like  St.  John  than  to  be  like  Herod  ? 
to  follow  the  example  of  Moses  than  that  of  Pharaoh  ? 
Is  it  not  safer  to  trust  in  Christ  than  not  to  trust  in 
him,  and  safer  to  do  all  things  whatsoever  he  com- 
mands than  not  to  do  them  ?  Who  will  not  give  a 
ready  affirmative  to  all  these  questions  ?  In  the  one 
case  we  cannot  lose  any  thing,  and  we  may  be,  yes, 
we  shall  be,  infinite  gainers.  In  the  other  case  we 
cannot  gain  any  thing  ;  it  is  not  pretended  :  but  we 
may  lose  every  thing.  In  the  former  case  we  run 
no  hazard  ;  in  the  latter  we  hazard  our  heaven,  our 
immortality,  our  God.  How  shall  we  be  able  to  an- 
swer, at  the  judgment  day,  for  our  dereliction  of  so 
familiar  and  rational  a  principle? 

I  could  easily  find  materials  to  extend  this  dis- 


255 

course  to  a  much  greater  length  ;  but  it  will  be  much 
more  to  your  advantage  if  you  will  yourselves  con- 
tinue and  conclude  the  subject  which  I  have  com- 
menced. And  if  you  should  find  that  the  prudential 
maxims  and  common  sense  principles,  which  hold 
and  govern  in  the  affairs  of  time,  are  set  aside  in  the 
affairs  of  eternity,  ought  not  the  discovery  to  alarm 
you  ?  Can  it  be  safe  to  pursue  a  courpe  with  respect 
to  the  business  of  the  soul,  which,  if  adopted  in  rela- 
tion to  any  other  business,  would  inevitably  lead  to 
the  most  disastrous  result?  Is  not  the  God  of  this 
life  also  the  presiding  Deity  of  that  to  come  ?  Is  not 
the  governor  of  this  world  the  governor  in  every 
world  ?  Is  not  the  same  immutable  Being  the  author 
of  nature  and  the  legislator  of  religion?  And  when, 
you  shall  find  that  even  your  own  principles  and 
opinions  will  not  bear  you  out  in  your  unconcern 
and  inaction,  will  it  not  be  time,  high  time,  to  make 
some  change  ?  Oh  I  that  men  were  wise,  that  they 
understood  this. 

And  do  you.  Christian  hearer,  be  careful  that 
your  own  principles  do  not  condemn  you.  You 
cherish  sentiments  and  entertain  opinions  that  ought 
to  act  upon  you  with  infinite  power.  You  be- 
lieve that  Christ  died  for  you,  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
inhabits  you,  that  angels  encamp  about  you,  that 
eternity  is  your  home,  and  heaven  your  inheri- 
tance. What  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be, 
holding  such  opinions,  in  all  holy  conversation. 
If  Christ  died  for  you,  how  profoundly  thankful,  how 
devotedly  attached  to  him  !  if  the  Spirit  dwells  in 


256  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

you,  how  watchful  against  sin,  how  careful  not  to 
grieve  him  !  if  angels  encamp  about  you,  how  wary 
yourselves  !  if  eternity  is  your  home,  how  thoughtful 
of  it !  if  heaven  your  inheritance,  how  weaned  from 
the  world  !  if  the  soul  is  in  your  account  a  gem  of 
inestimable  value,  how  careful  of  your  own  !  and  for 
others'  souls,  how  concerned,  how  prayerful  1 


SERMON    XIX. 


And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord,  choose  you  this 
day  whom  ye  will  serve.— Joshua  xxiv.  15.  How  long  halt  ye 
between  two  opinions?  if  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  him,  but  if 
Baal,  then  follow  him.— L  Kings  xviii.  21.  I  would  thou  wert 
cold  or  hot. — Revelation  iii.  15. 


These  three  passages  of  Scripture  are  selected, 
because  they  agree  in  recommending  and  urging  de- 
cision in  religion.  It  is  not  any  particular  decision 
which  they  recommend,  but  simply  decision  ;  not 
this  or  that  branch  of  the  alternative,  but  one  branch 
of  it,  or  the  other  ;  the  taking  of  a  side,  not  designa- 
ting the  side,  but  leaving  that  to  the  choice  of  the 
individual;  the  being  one  thing  or  another,  cold  or 
hot ;  for  Jehovah  or  for  Baal,  mammon,  or  whatever 
god  or  idol  the  person  may  see  it  good  to  prefer. 
And  this  is  what  I  am  going  to  recommend  now  to 
you  and  to  urge  upon  you  decision^  choice.  And 
since  I  am  not  about  to  dictate  hoio  you  shall  decide, 
but  only  to  recommend  ^Aa^  you  decide,  I  trust  I  shall 
be  heard  with  even  more  than  your  wonted  attention. 
I  need  not  say  that  T  am  not  indifferent  how  you  de- 
cide. I  need  not  avow  my  anxiety  that  you  should 
not  only  come  to  some  decision  without  delay,  but 
that  you  should  come  to  such  a  decision  as  you  shall 
never,  never  have  cause  to  regret  having  made.     I 

22* 


258 


pray,  and  trust  that  many  unite  with  me  in  the 
prayer,  that  in  choosing  to-day  whom  you  will  serve, 
you  may  be  incUned  to  choose  to  serve  the  Lord. 
But  to  recommend  a  decision  in  his  favor  is  not  the 
primary  object  now,  but  simply  to  recommend  de- 
cision. Choose,  this  is  all  I  have  to  say  now.  I 
leave  all  the  rest  with  you. 

That  some  of  you  are  undecided,  and  these  selec- 
tions of  Scripture  therefore  not  inappropriate  to 
your  case,  is  manifest.  You  yourselves  are  con- 
scious of  it.  When,  however,  I  speak  of  you  as  be- 
ing undecided,  I  do  not  mean  all  that  is  sometimes 
conveyed  in  that  word.  I  do  not  mean  that  your 
hearts  now  fix  on  nothing,  that  there  is  no  object  on 
which  at  present  your  affections  are  supremely  placed. 
1  do  not  mean  that  there  is  any  solid  neutral  ground 
on  which  you  do  or  can  stand  ;  but  I  mean  that  while 
on  the  one  hand  you  have  not  decided  for  the  service 
of  God,  neither  have  you  on  the  other  dispassion- 
ately and  deliberately  decided  neither  now,  nor 
ever  hereafter  to  engage  in  it.  The  state  of  mind  to 
which  I  refer  is  real,  and  I  believe  is  understood  by 
you  all. 

And  I  ask  now  what  you,  whose  state  it  is,  can  say 
in  favor  of  it  ?  Why  do  you  not  decide  one  way  or 
the  other  ?  Indecision  in  reference  to  other  matters, 
is  never  an  agreeable  state  of  mind.  It  is  indeed 
positively  and  sometimes  extremely  painful,  to  have 
the  mind  alternately  drawn  in  opposite  directions, 
the  judgment  vacillating  between  contrary  opinions, 
now  inclining  to  this,  then  reverting  to  the  other, 
uncertain,  and  not  knowing  what  to  do,  when  some- 


259 


thing  must  be  done  ;  you  have  all  had  experience  of 
its  painfulness.  And  you  have  subsequently  felt  the 
relief  of  decision,  as  if  some  heavy  burden  had  been 
taken  off,  or  some  irritating  annoyance  removed ; 
and  that  though  you  may  have  made  a  most  unwise 
decision.  I  do  believe  that  if  some  of  you  were  now 
to  decide  against  God,  you  would  be  immediately  af- 
terwards more  at  ease,  and  happy  than  you  now  are. 
If  any  one  affirms  that  he  does  not  find  this  state  of 
mind  painful,  it  is  not  his  really  ;  he  has  secretly  de- 
cided, and  in  all  probability  against  God. 

My  first  argument  then  in  favor  of  decision,  is 
derived  from  the  'painfulness  of  indecision.  My  se- 
cond is  from  its  disgracefidness.  I  appeal  to  you  if 
it  is  not  considered  dishonorable  to  a  man  to  remain 
long  undecided  on  other  subjects.  What  is  thought 
of  one  who  is  always  making  up  his  mind  and  never 
does  it,  who  now  expresses  this  preference,  and  anon 
the  opposite,  and  never  takes  a  side,  in  politics  for 
example,  on  the  fence  7  Is  he  not  accounted  weak 
or  something  worse  than  that  ?  And  yet  how  long 
have  not  some  of  you  been  undecided  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  hesitating  whether  to  give  the  heart  to 
God  or  not,  vacillating  between  God  and  Mammon  ; 
unable  to  make  up  your  minds,  and  to  this  day  appa- 
rently on  no  side  ;  neither  fully  for  God,  nor  wholly 

1. 


against  him.     Is  it  creditable  to  you,  to  say  no  more 

But! plead,  in  the  third  place, the  inmecessariness 
of  indecision.  I  know  that  immediate  decision  is 
not  in  all  cases  practicable.  It  is  often  necessary  to 
occupy  some  time  in  weighing  arguments  and  com- 
paring advantages.     The  course  which  a  man  ought 


260  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

to  pursue  does  not  always  reveal  itself  immediately. 
Hesitation  under  such  circumstances  is  reasonable 
and  honorable.  But  this  state  of  mind  rarely  con- 
tinues long.  We  soon  discover  which  scale  predomi- 
nates. We  very  soon  see  or  think  we  see  an  inequali- 
ty of  excellence  in  two  objects  between -which  we 
are  to  choose.  It  does  not  take  long  to  decide  on  the 
comparative  merits  of  two  rival  candidates  for  office. 
It  does  not  take  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  or  fifty  years  to 
settle  such  questions  as  these  and  to  determine  the 
side  we  shall  espouse  or  the  course  we  will  pursue. 
Yet  this  length  of  time  some  of  you  perhaps  have 
been  deliberating  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  you 
have  come  to  no  decision  yet.  Perhaps  there  is  but 
a  single  subject  on  which  you  remain  undecided, 
and  that  is  the  subject  of  religion  !  You  find  no  dif- 
ficulty with  any  other  but  this.  What  is  the  rea- 
son ?  Are  the  arguments  in  favor  of  either  choice, 
in  weight  equal,  or  so  nearly  equal  that  you  cannot 
determine  which  preponderate  ?  Do  you  find  rea- 
sons as  many  and  as  strong  why  you  should  not,  as 
why  you  should  serve  God  ?  Have  you  never  yet 
been  able  to  decide  whether  or  not  the  Bible  is  the 
word  of  God ;  or  that  question  having  been  decided 
affirmatively,  are  you  still  in  doubt  about  its  mean- 
ing ;  and  though  anxious  to  know,  and  diligently  seek- 
ing, yet  unable  to  discover  which  is  the  path  of  duty? 
Have  you  still  some  lingering  fears  that  if  you  should 
decide  for  the  service  of  God,  and  the  discipleship 
of  Jesus  Christ  you  might  be  doing  wrong  ?  Do  you 
stop  and  hesitate  between  the  two  courses,  as  not 
knowing  which  you  ought  to  take  ?     If  this  were  the 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  2G1 

case,  you  would  have  some  apology  for  your  inde- 
cision. But  it  is  not  the  case,  and  you  know  it  is 
not.  Conscience  has  long  ago  decided  the  question 
of  daty  ;  and  the  decision  of  that  one  question,  is  a 
decision  of  every  other,  for  that  cannot  be  safe,  or 
honorable,  or,  on  the  whole,  advantageous,  which  is 
wrong.  If  one  has  found  the  path  of  duty,  he  has 
found  in  it  the  path  of  peace,  and  safety,  and  profit, 
and  glory  too.  You  know  hoiv  you  ought  to  decide. 
There  is  no  inability  in  your  case  to  come  to  a  de- 
cision ;  for,  if  you  cannot  decide  for  God,  you  can 
decide  against  him.  You  can  form  to-day  and  exe- 
cute the  purpose,  not  to  engage  in  tlie  service  of  God. 
There  is  no  want  of  power  to  do  this.  Why  then  do 
you  not  decide?  I  will  tell  you.  Your  conscience 
dictates  one  course,  and  your  inclination  another. 
The  one  will  not  let  you  decide  against  the  service 
of  God  ;  the  other  will  not  allow  you  to  decide  for  it. 
And  these  carry  on  within  you  a  perpetual  conflict, 
there  waging  the  worst  species  of  that  worst  kind  of 
war,  civil  war.  How  many  a  soul  is  now  the  arena 
and  the  object  of  such  a  conflict !  Sometimes  it  is 
terminated  by  the  submission  of  inclinatio  n,s  inthe 
case  of  not  a  few  of  you,  I  trust  ;  but  sometimes  it  is 
terminated  by  the  capitulation  of  conscience,  as  in 
the  case  of  some  of  you,  I  very  much  fear.  There 
are  those,  who,  having  chosen,  and  now  pursuing 
the  course  that  is  agreeable  to  their  inclinations,  have 
been  able  to  persuade  themselves  that  it  is  the  right 
and  safe  course,  and,  consequently,  have  no  disturb- 
ance from  conscience,  or  from  any  quarter.  Perhaps 
they  think  that  they  are  serving  God,  though  it  be 


262 


notorious  to  every  one  else  that  they  are  not ;  or  not 
being  under  that  delusion,  they  think  that  God  is 
too  good  a  being  to  allow  any  course  which  a  crea- 
ture of  his  may  pursue,  to  terminate  m  destruction. 
And  so  they  adopt  secretly,  if  not  avowedly,  that 
pestilential  doctrine,  which  is  now  proclaimed  among 
us,  that  everlasting  life  and  glory  are  equally  the  end 
of  every  moral  course  that  a  man  may  pursue  ;  and 
that  whatever  one  soweth,  whether  it  be  good  seed 
or  bad,  whether  it  be  to  the  flesh  or  to  the  Spirit,  he 
shall  reap  the  same  everlasting  life.  Be  not  deceived. 
God  is  not  mocked  ;  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
that  shall  he  also  reap.  These  have  decided,  and  to 
a  worse  decision  they  could  not  have  come ;  for,  if 
there  be  another  more  criminal,  there  is  none  so  dan- 
gerous. He  who  does  wrong,  knowing  that  he  does 
wrong,  is  more  criminal  than  he  who  does  wrong, 
thinking  that  he  does  right;  but,  for  the  former, 
there  is  more  hope  than  for  the  latter.  The  case, 
involving  the  greatest  guilt,  is,  I  suppose,  his  who 
adopts  an  evil  practice  in  opposition  to  good  princi- 
ples ;  but  the  case  which  is  attended  with  most  dan- 
ger is  his,  who,  having  adopted  an  evil  practice, 
has  been  able  to  bring  down  his  principles  to  the 
level  of  his  practice.  Both  make  inclination  their 
rule  of  action  ;  but  the  latter  has  somehow  brought 
himself  to  believe,  that,  in  conforming  himself  to  that 
rule,  he  is  obeying  the  law  of  God.  Is  it  not 
shocking  ? 

Some  have  done  this.  But  others  have  not  been 
able  to  do"  it.  In  them  conscience  has  been  too  well 
enlightenedj  and   too  carefully  cultivated,  perhaps. 


263 

by  the  early  assiduities  of  some  pious  mother,  to  be 
so  easily  overcome  ;  and,  in  their  breast,  the  struggle 
still  goes  on.  The  state  of  indecision  continues. 
They  are  not  disposed  to  choose  the  good  part.  The 
other,  they  are  afraid  to  choose.  Conscience  draws 
them  one  way,  inclination  another.  They  cannot 
make  them  draw  together.  Now  the  first  seems  about 
to  prevail,  but  then  the  other  rallies,  and  victory  seems 
ready  to  crown  it.  They  wish  they  could  reconcile 
God  and  the  world,  and  so  serve  both  ;  and  they 
try,  but  they  cannot  succeed ;  and  yet  they  try 
again.  This  is  the  double  minded  character.  Here 
is  the  divided  heart.  This  is  the  history  of  many, 
until  death  comes  in,  and  the  question  is  no  longer 
open  for  decision.  The  alternative  of  life  and  death, 
of  good  and  evil,  of  heaven  and  hell  no  longer  ex- 
ists ;  evil,  death,  and  hell  alone  remain,  and  these 
must  be  taken.     There  is  no  choice  left. 

The  principal  cause  of  indecision  I  have  men- 
tioned. There  is  something,  however,  which  very 
much  promotes  it,  that  I  have  still  to  mention.  It  is 
the  impression  existing  s^enerally,  that,  to  be  unde- 
cided in  religion,  is  vastly  better  than  to  be  decided 
against  it;  to  halt  between  two  opinions,  better  than 
to  adopt  the  worse  of  the  two  ;  in  other  words,  that 
the  temperature  of  lukewarmness  is  preferable  to  a 
lower  temperature.  One  says,  if  I  decide  now,  I 
shall  decide  against  the  service  of  God.  I  had  better, 
therefore,  come  to  no  decision  ;  better  make  no 
choice,  than  a  bad  choice.  And  the  person  that 
reasons  thus,  secretly  solaces  himself  with  the  reflec- 
tion that  he  has  not  decided  against  God,  though  he 


264 

must  acknowledge,  he  has  not  decided  for  him  ;  if  he 
has  not  embraced  reho-ion,  yet  one  thing  he  knows, 
he  has  not  renounced  it ;  he  has  always  respected  it. 
But  is  there  any  ground  for  this  complacency '? 
rWhat  think  you  of  a  child  who  says  he  has  a  respect 

u  for  filial  obedience,  but  don't  obey  ?  Is  it  so  much 
better  to  halt,  to  be  lukewarm,  to  come  to  no  decision  ? 
What  says  Joshua  ?  "  If  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to 
serve  the  Lord,  choose  ye  whom  you  will  serve." 
Make  any  selection  rather  than  none.     What  says 

\  Elijah  ?  "  How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions  ? 
If  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  him ;  but  if  Baal,  then 
follow  him.  What  says  an  infinitely  higher  au- 
thority than  either  ?  "I  would  thou  wert  cold  or 
hot?"  These  all  declare  in  favor  of  decision,  which- 
ever way  it  be.     Their  language  is^  choose,  whe- 

I  ther  it  be  good  or  evil,  right  or  wrong,  God  or 
mammon ;  but  choose.  It  would  appear  from  these 
passages,  that,  of  all  states  of  mind,  in  regard  to  religion, 
indecision  is  the  most  despised  by  God,  and  more 
than  any  other  to  be  avoided  by  man  ;  and  on 
every  account,  and  in  every  view  of  it,  we  should 
guard  against  it.  But  that  it  is  so  on  some  accounts,  we 
have  the  express  authority  of  inspiration  for  affirm- 
ing. It  is  certainly,  of  all  states  of  mind,  the  most 
unreasonable.  And  then  how  dishonoring  to  God 
to  hesitate  and  to  be  undecided  when  his  service  and 
favor  constitute  one  part  of  the  alternative  presented ! 
What  can  be  more  so  ?  How  would  you  regard  a 
child,  who  should  be  always  hesitating  whether  to 
renounce  your  authority,  or  to  submit  to  it  ?  Would 
you  not,  on  some   accounts,   and  perhaps  on  the 


265 

whole,  prefer  that  he  should  renounce  it  at  once? 
So  long  as  he  cannot  make  up  his  mind  to  be  sub- 
ject to  you,  of  what  service  is  he  to  you,  or  of  what 
credit?  Would  you  not  as  lief  have  a  person  reject 
you  at  once,  as  vacillate  in  indecision  between  you 
and  another  in  every  great  and  good  quality  of  cha- 
racter manifestly  and  immensely  your  inferior  ? 
What  could  offend  you  more  than  to  be  put  in  com- 
petition with  such  a  one,  and  to  have  it  implied  that 
there  is  great  difficulty  in  deciding  on  your  compara- 
tive merits?  And  yet  this  the  great  and  blessed 
God  has  to  endure  continually.  He  sees  you  acting 
as  if  unable  to  decide  which  is  the  better  portion,  he 
or  the  world ;  and  which  the  worthier  master,  he  or 
Satan.  He  sees  you  hesitating  whether  to  give  your 
heart  to  him,  your  creator,  preserver,  friend,  and  fa- 
ther, or  to  some  corrupt  creature  or  odious  object  of 
earth.  You  do  not  say,  as  some  do  virtually,  "  I  will 
not  give  God  my  heart ;"  but  you  say  what  is  harder  to 
be  borne  by  man  or  God,  "  I  will  think  about  it. 
I  do  not  know  what  to  do.  I  cannot  make  up  my 
mind.  I  wish  God  would  not  demand  my  heart,  or 
would  be  satisfied  with  half  of  it.  I  must  have 
more  time  to  determine."  And  you  are  undecided 
still. 

In  such  a  case  of  indecision,  there  is  a  degree  of 
decision ;  in  this  negative  state,  something  positive. 
''  He  that  is  not  with  me,"  says  Christ,  '•  is  against 
me;  not  merely  not  with  me,  but  against  me: 
and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  me,  scattereth."  He 
who  is  not  a  friend  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  not  necessarily 
his  declared  and  determined  foe,  but  he  is  always  more 
23 


266  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

than  not  his  friend.  He  who  vacillates  between  God 
and  the  world,  inclines  much  more  to  the  world  than 
to  God.  If  he  indeed  literally  divided  his  heart  be- 
tween them,  giving  half  to  one  and  half  to  the  other, 
and  if  his  influence  and  his  services  were  thus  im- 
partially bestowed,  the  case  would  be  different,  and 
indecision,  though  still  hateful,  would  be  less  offen- 
sive to  God. 

I  am  reminded  of  something  else  which  frequently 
reconciles  sinners  to  a  state  of  indecision.  It  is  the 
impression  that  it  will  be  easier  to  decide  right  here- 
after than  it  is  now.  They  expect  to  gain  some  ad- 
vantage by  deferring  to  decide.  They  suppose  that 
a  less  effort  and  a  lighter  sacrifice  will  be  necessary 
in  deciding  for  God,  when  they  shall  have  made  a 
nearer  approach  to  the  grave.  It  is  a  delusion.  Ne- 
ver were  men  more  mistaken.  If  it  were  as  they  sup- 
pose, then  it  would  follow  that  it  is  easier  to  become  a 
Christian  in  old  age  than  in  youth.  But  is  it  so  ? 
And  it  would  follow  that  there  is  next  to  no  difficulty 
in  becoming  one  on  a  death  bed,  which,  whatever 
the  living  may  say,  no  dying  man  ever  testified.  Is 
it  so  that  the  ease  with  which  a  heart  will  melt,  is  in 
the  direct  proportion  of  its  hardness ;  or  is  it  not  a  fact 
that  the  heart  increases  in  hardness  as  long  as  it  per- 
sists in  impenitency  ?  Is  it  true  that  the  long  indul- 
gence of  evil  propensities  does  not  increase  their 
strength  or  that  sinful  inclinations  are  most  easily 
overcome,  when  they  are  in  their  greatest  strength  ? 
one  of  which  must  be  true,  if  the  theory  can  be 
maintained  that  a  right  decision  is  facilitated,  by  be- 
ing postponed.     Is  it  a  fact  that  age  impairs  avarice, 


267 


or  that  one  loves  the  world  less,  as  the  time  of 
leaving  it  approaches.  It  is  not  a  fact.  It  will 
never  be  easier  with  any  one  to  decide  for  the 
service  of  God,  than  it  is  now.  It  will  never 
require  a  less  effort  than  to-day ;  and  if  the  sacrifice 
will  ever  be  smaller  in  reality,  it  will  never  appear 
and  never  be  felt  to  be  smaller  than  it  is  now.  You 
may  have  less  to  give  up  hereafter,  but  you  will  never 
think  so.  What  if  external  circumstances  should  be- 
come more  auspicious?  How  little  depends  on  them. 
How  frequently  are  sinners  converted  under  circun> 
stances  most  unfavorable,  while  others  under  cir- 
cumstances the  most  propitious  remain  unconverted. 
The  huge  obstacle  is  within.  And  it  is  daily  rising 
and  spreading  and  fixing  itself  more  firmly ;  and 
there  can  be  no  external  change  for  the  better,  to 
compensate  for  this  internal  change  for  the  worse. 
No  it  is  not  becoming  easier,  it  is  becoming  every 
day  more  difficult  to  make  the  right  choice.  The 
probability  decreases,  the  prospect  darkens  daily  and 
hourly.  If  one  of  you  were  assured  of  being  with- 
in an  hour  of  death,  you  would  find  repentance  no 
easier  than  now  it  is,  and  it  is  a  thousand  to  one  you 
would  die  in  your  sins.  The  motives  to  repentance 
would  perhaps  be  stronger,  if  indeed  they  can  be 
stronger  than  now  they  are,  but  motives  alone  have 
never  prevailed  and  will  never  prevail. 

I  have  assigned  the  reasons  in  favor  of  imme- 
diate decision.  And  now  bear  with  me  while  I  state 
the  case  and  distinctly  tell  you  what  I  want  you  to 
do.  Well,  then,  I  want  you  to  choose  a  master  to- 
day.    You  must  have  one.     To  serve  is  incident  to 


268 


your  finite  nature  and  dependent  condition  ;  and  you 
cannot  serve  two  masters,  God  and  mammon.  Choose 
then  between  them.  Here  they  are.  Compare  their 
claims  and  their  merits  and  decide  for  the  one  or  the 
other  as  it  may  seem  good  to  you.  Will  you  have 
for  your  Sovereign,  Lord  and  Master,  the  great  and 
good  Jehovah,  your  beneficent  creator,  your  unwea- 
ried benefactor,  your  lather,  or  some  other?  Will 
you  bow  to  his  authority,  or  some  other's  ?  Will  you 
obey  his  laws,  or  be  governed  by  other  rules  ?  Will 
you  fear  God  or  man  ?  Take  which  side  you  please, 
but  do  take  one  or  the  other,  for  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  either  cannot  be  equal.  If  it  be  reasonable, 
right,  obligatory,  the  safer  course,  the  more  prudent 
part  to  serve  God,  serve  him,  commence  his  service 
now  ;  if  otherwise,  decline  his  service  altogether. 
I  want  you  to  dispose  of  your  heart  to-day,  to  give  it 
away  ;  the'choice  of  the  object  I  leave  with  you.  If 
the  claim  of  God  to  your  heart  be  paramount,  if  he 
have  the  better  right  to  it,  if  he  has  done  most  to  de- 
serve its  affections,  give  it  to  him  ;  if  not,  give  it  else- 
w^here  ?  Place  your  supreme  affections  on  that  which 
is  most  deserving  of  them.  If  any  creature  is  more 
excellent  than  God,  or  if  you  owe  more  to  any  crea- 
ture, or  any  creature  can  make  you  happier  than  God, 
give  it  to  him.  Do  not  think  to  divide  it  between 
them.  That  cannot  be  done  ;  "  if  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him ;  know 
ye  not  that  the  friendship  of  the  world,  is  enmity 
with  God?"  Dispose  of  your  heart,  I  say.  And  in- 
deed you  will  do  it.  Its  affections  will,  like  the  ivy, 
climb  and  cling  to  some  object,  if  not  God.     It  is 


269 

their  nature.  You  have  disposed  of  your  heart  for 
the  present.  Then  I  say  dispose  of  it  finally.  De- 
tach it  from  the  object  it  embraces  to-day,  if  you  ever 
mean  to  do  it.  Why  let  it  clasp  itself  more  closely 
to  that  from  which  you  mean  hereafter  to  tear  it  ? 

I  want  you,  to  state  the  case  in  another  form  ;  to 
decide  to-day  whether  you  can  get  along  safely  and 
happily  through  life,  and  death,  and  immortality, 
without  Jesus  Christ.  Through  life,  alas,  I  know  you 
can,  for  some  of  you  have  got  almost  through  it  with- 
out him.  And  yet  not  in  every  sense  without  him ; 
without  loving  him  and  living  to  him,  but  not  with- 
out many  favors  and  much  unrequited  care  and  kind- 
ness from  him  :  but  can  you  through  death,  and 
after  death,  amid  the  scenes  and  through  the  trials  of 
the  final  day  and  so  on  immortally?  Can  you  get 
along  and  get  through  safely  and  triumphantly  with- 
out the  conduct  of  this  guide,  the  defence  of  this 
protector,  the  care  of  this  good  shepherd,  the  aid  of 
this  divine  helper,  and  the  ministrations  of  that  friend- 
ship, which  for  its  objects  not  only  toiled,  and  wept, 
but  even  bled?  Oh!  can  you?  Into  what  other 
hands  can  you  with  safety  commit  that  inestimable 
and  deathless  soul  ?  Have  you  not  sinned  ;  and  is 
there  any  remission  of  sin  without  shedding  of  blood ; 
can  any  blood  cleanse  from  sin  but  his  ;  and  can  his, 
without  being  applied  ?  I  want  you  to  decide  this 
question  to-day  ;  you  can  do  it ;  and  it  is  time  it  were 
decided.  If  you  can  do  without  Christ,  s:iy  so,  and 
give  him  up.  Let  your  final  decision  be  made  at 
once.  There  is  no  advantage  in  keeping  the  ques- 
tion open  any  longer.     Give  him  up.     Resign  all 

23* 


270  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

expectations  from  him.  Repel  his  advances.  Reject 
his  proposals.  Tell  him  that  you  want  nothing  of 
him.  And  when  he  says  come,  do  you  go.  And 
yet  '•  to  whom  will  you  go  ?" 

If  your  decision  should  be,  however,  that  you 
cannot  do  without  him,  that  you  need  his  hand  to 
lead,  his  arm  to  defend,  and  his  blood  to  cleanse  yoUj 
then  this  day  apply  to  him,  embrace  and  obey  him  ; 
commit  your  soul  to  him,  and  take  his  yoke  upon 
you.  Is  It  not  reasonable  ?  To  put  it  off  another 
day  argues  weakness,  and  involves  ingratitude  the 
most  shameful,  presumption  the  most  daring,  and 
danger  the  most  imminent. 

But  to  present  the  case  under  one  other  aspect,  I 
want  you  to-day  to  decide  this  question,  v/hetherthe 
present  state  of  your  heart  and  complexion  of  your 
character  is  such  as  accompanies  salvation  ;  whe- 
ther it  be  compatible  with  the  favor  of  God,  and  con- 
sonant to  heaven  ;  whether  some  great  change  be 
not  necessary  in  your  heart  and  character,  in  the 
affections  of  the  one  and  the  habits  of  the  other  to 
make  the  worship  and  service  of  God  delightful  to 
you,  and  heaven  a  fit  and  agreeable  place  to  you  ; 
whether  you  have  not  a  deeper  and  different  kind 
of  repentance  yet  to  exercise,  and  some  sins  which 
yet  remain  to  be  given  up,  and  holiness  to  cultivate? 
It  is  right  that  you  should  decide  this  question  to- 
day. If  your  decision  be  that  no  such  change  is  ne- 
cessary, that  your  lieart  will  answer  as  it  is,  and  that 
your  character  will  pass,  that  your  affections  and 
your  habits  are  such  as  they  should  be,  and  that  you 
have  that  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see 


271 

the  Lord,  or  else  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  the  bUssful 
vision  of  God,  though  an  inspired  apostle  says  it  is  • 
if  this  be  your  decision,  as  I  should  suspect  it  to  be 
of  many  of  you,  judging  from  your  unconcern  and 
inactivity,  give  yourself  no  uneasiness  about  it ;  go 
on  as  you  are  going  ;  live  just  as  you  have  been 
living. 

But  if  you  should  come  to  a  diiferent  decision,  if 
some  change  should  appear  to  be  necessary,  then  I 
say  go  about  it  immediately.  You  decide  it  must  be 
done.  You  acknowledge  it  is  not  done  yet ;  and 
you  know  it  will  never  be  done  without  you,  though 
not  done  by  you.  If  then,  in  view  of  this  necessity, 
and  in  view  of  this  fearful  uncertainty  of  human  life, 
and  the  hopelessness  of  any  moral  change  after  death, 
and  the  tremendous  consequences  of  its  being  left 
undone  forever,  you  can  refuse  to  undertake  it  imme- 
diately, and  will  still  put  off,  and  be  undecided,  you 
may  as  well  give  up  at  once  all  pretensions  to  ration- 
ality, and  conclude,  when  you  are  called  up  for  trial 
at  the  bar  of  God,  to  put  in  the  plea  of  insanity,  and 
if  you  acted  in  other  matters,  as  you  do  in  religion, 
that  plea  would  sustain  you. 

And  now  will  you  decide  for  the  one  part  or  the 
other  ?  Will  you  be  one  thing  or  the  other  ?  Follow 
one  of  the  opinions,  be  cold  or  hot,  and  not  continue 
in  that  state  of  lukewarmness,  nauseating  even  to 
God. 

Will  you  choose  God  for  your  sovereign  and  portion, 
or  some  other  ?  Will  you  decide  for  or  against  re- 
pentance ? 

Say,  will  you  have  this  Christ  or  no  ?     Behold  he 


272  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

Stands  at  the  door  ;  he  has  knocked  ;  he  has  called  ; 
and  now  he  waits  your  decision.  Say  not,  "I  will 
hy  and  hyP  I  had  rather  you  would  say,  "  I  will 
not."  The  former  is  a  little  more  respectful  than  the 
latter,  and  that  is  all.  Both  mean  the  same ;  and 
the  first  response  has  this  disadvantage,  that  it  de- 
ceives the  person  who  makes  it.  He  thinks  that  he 
only  defers,  when,  in  fact,  he  declines  altogether. 
What  is  the  difference,  in  reality,  between  "  I  will 
not"  and  "  I  will  not  nou-,"  when  now  is  the  accepted 
time,  and  now  is  the  day  of  salvation  ? 

What  are  you  waiting  for  ?  To  be  willing?  You 
will  be  as  unwilling  the  moment  before  you  decide, 
if  you  ever  decide  for  God,  as  you  are  now.  Wait- 
ing for  some  impulse  ?  You  will  never  feel  it  until 
you  make  the  effort.  Wait  not  then,  but  work,  and 
interlace  with  all  your  efforts,  prayer,  liearty,  honest, 
humble,  fervent  prayer. 


SERMON    XX 


Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap* 
Galations  vi.  7. 


Is  it  not  strange  that  the  Apostle  should  have 
thought  it  necessary  to  draw  out  into  a  formal  pro- 
position, a  truth  so  obvious,  and  admitted  as  that 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  and  not  something  of  a 
different  kind  he  shall  also  reap  ?  Is  it  not  universally 
understood  that  the  product  of  a  field  will  be  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  seed  sown  in  it  ?  The  con- 
trary proposition  involves  an  absurdity.  Yet  how 
gravely  and  solemnly  he  states  the  truth.  And  not 
only  so,  but  prefaces  it  with  a  caution  against  self- 
deception  and  trifling  with  God.  "  Be  not  deceived  ; 
God  is  not  mocked  :  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
that  shall  he  also  reap."  Men  are  indeed  very  prone 
to  deceive  themselves  ;  and  there  are  many  cases  of 
gross  self-deception,  but  is  any  one  in  danger  of  so 
egreofiously  deceiving  himself  as  to  expect  from  a 
sowing  of  seed  of  one  kind,  a  reaping  of  grain  of 
another  kind  ?  Would  you  think  it  necessary  to 
caution  the  least  experienced  farmer  against  harbor- 
ing such  an  expectation  7  Why,  then,  does  Paul  so 
solemnly  introduce  and  so  formally  express  this  truth, 
or  truism,  as  I  may  call  it.  Because,  though  this 
proposition  is  assented  to  as  expressing  a  truth  iu 


274 


agriculture,  it  is  denied  or  disregarded  as  expressing 
a  principle  in  morals.  "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
if  it  chance  of  loheat  or  any  other  grain,  that  shall 
he  also  reap/'  And  he  is  out  of  his  senses,  who 
cherishes  any  other  expectation.  Now  it  is  equally 
true  in  a  figurative  sense  that  whatsoever  a  man 
sows  that  shall  he  also  reap.  It  is  equally  true  of 
the  conduct  and  actions  of  men  as  of  seed  cast  into 
the  ground,  that  they  produce  after  their  kind.  Men 
receive  according  to  their  doings.  Retribution  pro- 
ceeds upon  a  previous  probation.  "  Say  ye  to  the 
righteous,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  him,  for  they 
shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings."  They  shall  reap 
as  they  have  sown.  "  He  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit, 
shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  everlasting."  On  the 
other  hand,  "  Woe  unto  the  wicked  ;  it  shall  be  ill 
with  him,  for  the  reward  of  his  hands  shall  be  given 
him  ;"  and  again,  "  Therefore  shall  they  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  their  own  way,  and  be  filled  with  their  own 
devices,  for  the  turning  away  of  the  simple  shall 
slay  them,  and  the  prosperity  of  fools  shall  destroy 
them."  They  shall  reap  according  as  they  have 
sown."  "  He  that  so w^eth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption."  "  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive 
the  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he 
hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad."  Thus  we 
establish  the  doctrine.  But  though  it  be  equally 
true  of  the  moral  conduct  of  men,  as  of  hteral  seed, 
that  it  produces  after  its  kind,  it  is  by  no  means  as 
unhesitatingly  and  universally  admitted.  Perhaps 
not  many  deny  the  naked  proposition,  but  many. 


275 

almost  all,  act  as  if  it  was  not  true.  They  sow  of 
one  kind,  yet  hope  to  reap  another  totally  different 
kind.  They  set  at  nought  in  morals,  the  established 
principle  of  agriculture  that  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap.  They  cherish  an 
expectation  in  one  order  of  things,  which,  were  they 
to  cherish  it  in  regard  to  any  other  order  of  things, 
would  prove  them  to  be  out  of  their  senses.  They 
would  be  ashamed  of  themselves  were  they  to  cal- 
culate on  reaping  a  crop  of  a  kind  different  from  that 
of  the  seed  sown.  And  yet  they  do  confidently  ex- 
pect to  receive  of  a  kind  totally  unlike  the  character 
of  what  they  do.  Wicked  men  do  not  expect  to  eat 
of  the  fruit  of  their  own  way,  and  to  be  filled  with 
their  own  devices.  They  sow  the  wind,  expecting 
to  reap  not  the  whirlwind,  but  a  calm.  (Do  you  ex- 
pect to  reap  according  to  what  you  have  sown  ? 
Would  you  not  quake  if  you  thought  you  were  go- 
ing to  ?  For  though  you  have  done  some  things  in 
some  sense  good,  and  not  been  as  bad  as  possible,  yet 
you  have  not  glorified  God.)  They  overlook  the  doc- 
trine of  natural  retribution,  as  I  may  express  it,  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  what  is  equally  a  doctrine  of  the  Bible, 
that  of  positive  retribution.  It  is  a  most  interesting 
fact  that  God  has  'so  arranged  things,  that  a  man's 
own  conduct  shall  call  him  to  account.  He  may 
deny  his  accountability  to  God,  but  how  can  he  deny 
his  accountability  to  himself?  He  may  temporarily 
deny  or  forget  it,  but  he  cannot  always  evade  the 
scrutiny  of  himself  ;  he  must  stand  at  his  own  bar, 
if  not  at  God's  ;  he  must  hear  the  verdict  which  his 
own  reason  and  conscience  give  against  him  ;  and  to 


276  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

carry  that  verdict  into  execution  there  is  an  inviola- 
ble law  of  nature,  which  God  will  not  exert  his 
power  of  working  miracles,  to  counteract.  The 
thought  that  I  am  now  upon,  is  most  strikingly  ex- 
pressed in  that  admonition,  "  Be  sure  your  sin  will 
find  you  out."  That  pursues  you,  and  that,  your  sin, 
will  detect,  and  deliver  you  up. 

But  I  say  that  this  truth  is  now  generally  denied 
or  overlooked,  and  men  expect  to  escape  the  natural 
consequences  of  their  conduct,  as  well  as  those  also 
which  the  Bible  declares  shall  infallibly  follow.  On 
no  other  principle,  is  their  conduct  capable  of  expla- 
nation. Would  they  sow  as  they  do  :  indulge  such 
feelings,  cultivate  such  tempers  and  habits,  cherish 
such  thoughts,  give  way  to  such  language,  do  such 
prohibited  deeds,  and  disregard  such  commanded 
duties  as  they  do,  if  they  expected  to  reap  accord- 
ingly ?  With  what  alarm,  but  for  their  unbelief,  would 
men  read  or  hear  that  appeal  and  declaration  of  Paul, 
1.  Corinthians,  vi.  6,  10,  '-  Know  ye  not  that  the  un- 
riofhteous  shall  not  inherit  the  kino^dom  of  God  and 
Christ."  They  may,  notwithstanding,  and  they  shallj 
is  the  secret  belief,  or  cherished  hope  of  many.  And 
what  is  the  ground  of  their  faith  and  hope?  The 
mercy  and  goodness  of  God.  As  well  may  that  be 
relied  on  to  make  fire  freeze,  and  ice  burn.  Yea  bet- 
ter, for  God  hath  expressly  said  that  these  shall  not 
inherit  his  kingdom.  His  word  is  given.  His  vera- 
city is  pledged.  He  delighteth  in  mercy,  but  he  de- 
lighteth  also  in  truth.  He  is  very  merciful,  but  not 
so  merciful  as  to  be  false.  He  is  willino:  men  should 
be  saved,  but  lie  he  cannot. 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  277 

It  is  SO  manifest  that  men  on  this  point  do  deceive 
themselves,  that  no  wonder  he  precedes  the  declara- 
tion of  the  truth  with  the  caution.  "  Be  not  deceived." 
It  was  needed.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  he  added, 
''  God  is  not  mocked."  Would  it  not  be  a  mocking 
of  God,  a  trifling  with  him  as  the  lawgiver  and 
governor  of  nature,  to  expect  him  to  interpose  to  give 
a  man  a  crop  unlike  in  kind  the  seed  he  sowed? 
And  is  it  not  equally  trifling  with  him  to  expect  him 
to  set  aside  the  laws  which  govern  the  moral  world, 
in  compliance  with  our  wishes  ? 

The  error  involved  in  the  denial  of  my  text  is 
among  the  most  mischievous  in  its  eflects.  And 
here  I  may  remark  that  the  human  family  has  never 
been  visited  by  any  scourge  so  destructive  as  error. 
Many  speak  of  error  as  harmless,  or  scarcely  an  evil. 
Vf here  have  they  been  all  their  lives  ?  Have  they 
read  nothing  ?  Have  they  never  looked  about  them  ? 
Have  tliey  never  reflected  ?  Why,  almost  all  the 
misery  and  mischief  that  have  been  in  the  world 
may  be  traced  back  to  its  source  in  error,  and  all  the 
happiness  and  order  of  the  world  are  owing  to  truth. 
And  just  think  how  by  certain  truths  mankind  are 
restrained  as  much  as  they  are,  and  God  enabled 
thereby  to  carry  on  his  moral  government ;  and  im- 
agine what  the  world  would  be  but  for  the  influence 
of  those  truths.  Now  just  conceive  what  would  be 
the  consequence,  if  the  error  of  atheism  were  uni- 
versal, or  cherished  by  a  majority,  or  that  of  poly- 
theism connected  with  idolatry,  as  it  of  course  is,  or 
that  of  annihilation^  or  that  which  takes  from  con- 

24 


278 

science  all  its  power,  the  denial  absolute  of  account- 
ability. Could  famine  prove  such  a  scourge,  or 
sword,  or  pestilence,  or  the  three  united  ?  No ;  for 
these  but  kill  the  body ;  while  error  attacks  man  in 
his  soul,  blinds  the  guide  within  us,  and  poisons  the 
affections  at  their  spring  head,  the  heart. 

I  design  not  now  to  attempt  the  saying  of  all  that 
might  be  easily  said  on  the  subject;  but  only  to  sub- 
mit a  few  thoughts  which  the  topic  suggests. 

1.  It  is  a  most  interesting  view  to  take  of  human 
conduct,  that  it  is  a  soicing ;  that  all  our  acts  and 
exercises  are  as  if  they  were  planted  in  a  rich  soil, 
and  to  produce  many  fold  ;  that  we  are  to  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  our  doings,  of  whatever  kind  they  are.  If 
every  act  expired  in  its  performance,  and  every  exer- 
cise of  mind  and  heart  terminated  with  itself,  it  would 
not  be  of  so  much  importance  to  attend  to  the  nature 
of  our  acts  and  the  character  of  our  exercises.  But 
it  is  not  so.  They  are  seeds  sown  and  abundantly 
producing  each  after  its  kind.  Then  of  what  im- 
portance the  kind.  Of  what  immense  moment  the 
spirit  I  cherish  and  the  life  I  lead  now.  when  I  am 
to  hear  from  them  as^ain  through  God,  aye,  and  to 
reap  forever  according  to  them.  How  important 
how  I  spend  this  day  !  centuries  answer  to  it. 

If  this  is  a  true  view  of  human  conduct,  how  im- 
portant that  every  man  should  take  it,  and  keep 
it  continually  before  his  mind.  I  am  an  account- 
able being.  I  am  passing  through  a  brief  proba- 
tion, preparatory  to  a  long  retribution.  God  has 
constituted  me  in  some  sense  the  author  of  my 
own  destiny.     I  am  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  my  doings. 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  279 

I  must  be  careful,  therefore,  what  I  do.  I  cannot  reap 
different  from  what  I  sow.  Let  me  not  so  deceive 
myself.  Let  me  not  so  trijfie  with  God  as  to  indulge 
any  such  expectation.  I  must  be  attentive  to  the 
nature  of  the  seed  I  sow.  It  must  be  precious  seed. 
If  a  quantity  of  grain  is  converted  into  flour,  made 
into  bread,  and  eaten,  there  is  an  end  of  it.  But  what 
if  it  be  sown  in  a  fertile  field,  that  is  but  the  begin- 
ning of  it.  We  are  not  consuming.  We  are  sowing. 
We  shall  never  have  done  with  our  conduct. 

2.  The  seed  we  sow  consists  not  merely  of  overt 
acts,  but  comprehends  whatever  goes  to  constitute 
or  to  manifest  character.  For  every  idle  word  a 
man  shall  give  account  to  God  ;  much  more  then  for 
every  jjrofane^  false^  slandeToiis^  uncharitable^  las- 
civious word.  And  God  will  bring  every  work  into 
judgment  with  evei^y  secret  thing.  If  every  secret 
thing,  then  every  thought^  every  feeling,  each  exer- 
cise of  mind  and  heart.  Why  not  ?  If  every  secret 
thing,  then  the  temper^  disposition,  spirit ;  the  state 
of  the  affections ;  our  aims,  our  motives,  those  most 
secret  things,  that  lie  lowest  and  most  latent  in  the 
soul.  ''  All  a  man's  ways  are  right  in  his  own  eyes, 
but  the  Lord  pondereth  the  hearts ;  weigheth  the 
spirits."  It  is  said  of  one,  ''  He  did  that  which  was 
right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  but  not  with  a  perfect 
heart." 

If  this  doctrine  be  correct,  then  attention  is  requi- 
site to  much  more  than  our  overt  actions.  We  must 
beware  of  our  words.  We  must  take  heed  to  our 
spirits.  We  must  keep  our  hearts  with  all  diligence. 
We  must  not  only  consider  what  we  are  doing,  but 


280  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

from  what  motive,  and  with  what  aim  we  are  doing 
it. 

3.  How  much  seed  every  man  sows  even  in  a  short 
hfe,  seed  of  some  sort  or  other  !  How  many  acts, 
words,  thoughts,  and  feeUngs  enter  into  the  record  of 
every  day,  and  each  is  a  productive  seed  !  Now  let 
these  be  multiplied  by  the  days  of  the  Hfe  of  man, 
and  what  an  aggregate  they  make  !  What  an  abun- 
dant harvest  of  good  or  evil  each  of  us  is  destined 
to  reap,  and  that  not  merely  because  we  sow  a  great 
deal  of  seed,  but  because, — 

4.  Nothing  which  is  sown  is  so  productive  as  hu- 
man conduct ;  nothing  so  fertile  in  its  consequences  ; 
so  abundant  in  results.  For  the  truth  of  this  re- 
mark, I  need  only  appeal  to  your  observation  and 
experience.  Just  think  of  the  consequences  which 
often  follow  from  one  wrong  act,  one  misstep,  one 
deviation  ;  how  lasting^  how  melancholy ;  what 
long  remorse  ;  what  abiding  infamy  ;  what  irretriev- 
able adversity  ;  what  bitter,  protracted  regrets  ;  what 
floods  of  tears  !  How  much  of  pain  and  woe  even 
here,  in  this  state  which  is  not  retributive,  from  one 
evil  seed  ! 

Thistles,  thorns,  and  tares  are  not  so  productive 
as  sins.  Oh  !  who  can  estimate  the  produce  of  one 
sin  only  ?  Ah  !  what  then  must  be  the  reaping  from 
a  whole  busy  life  of  disobedience  to  God?  Ah  !  what 
must  be  the  eternal  hereafter  of  the  man  who  passes 
in  impenitence  through  the  days  and  years  of  life  ? 
and  especially  if  his  course  is  under  the  bright  light 
of  the  Gospel,  and  he  is  attended  on  his  way,  per- 
haps annoyed,  by  the  calls  and  warning-s  of  God,  the 


281 

sweet  invitations  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  winning 
whispers  of  the  Spirit. 

5.  The  season  of  sowing  precedes  that  of  reaping. 
Yes,  my  friends,  be  not  deceived.  It  does.  You 
may  wonder  that  I  so  gravely  assert  this.  The  rea- 
son is,  that  some  deny  it.  They  make  sowing  and 
reaping,  probation  and  retnhutiou,  contemporaneous. 
They  say  we  reap  while  we  sow.  Every  farmer 
knows  better  ;  and  every  sinner  ought  to  know  bet- 
ter. They  say  there  is  no  reaping  ;  no  retribution 
hereafter.  There  is  a  consequence  of  that  doctrine 
which  I  suspect  its  abettors  have  never  contemplated. 
It  is  this.  If  men  receive  all  their  punishment  here, 
it  must  follow  that  they  receive  all  their  reward  here. 
If  they  receive  their  evil  in  this  life,  why  not  also 
their  good.  If,  from  sowing  to  the  flesh,  they  reap 
the  entire  harvest  here,  why  not  also  from  sowing  to 
the  Spirit.  If  the  consequences  of  evil  conduct  do 
not  reach  beyond  the  grave,  how  shall  it  be  shown, 
with  what  consistency  can  it  be  maintained,  that  the 
consequences  of  good  conduct  transcend  those  limits? 

This  doctrine  cannot  be  sustained.  It  is  at  war 
with  all  analogy.  There  is  the  sowing;  then  an 
interval  longer  or  shorter,  and  then  the  reaping. 
That  is  the  order.  It  is  true  in  some  cases,  retribu- 
tion commences  here.  Some  men's  sins  anticipate 
the  judgment.  Sin  often  finds  out  its  perpetrator 
very  soon  after  the  offence  is  committed.  But  this  is 
not  the  general  fact.  Ordinarily,  it  takes  a  sin  a 
good  while  to  find  out  the  offender.  The  conse- 
quences are  long  and  late  in  developing  themselves. 
Then  how  contrary  to  Scripture  this  doctrine  is. 
24* 


282 


'^  Sentence  against  an  evil  work,  is  not  speedily  exe- 
cuted," it  declares.  And  the  wicked  know  it ;  and  it 
is  on  this  account  that  their  hearts  are  fully  set  in  them 
to  do  evil.  There  is  such  a  long  interval  between 
sowing  and  reaping,  that  they  are  emboldened  to 
believe  there  never  will  be  a  reaping.  "  Where  is 
tlie  promise  of  his  coming  ?"  theysay.  I  would  ask 
when^  according  to  the  Scriptures,  we  are  to  receive 
the  things  done  in  the  body.  While  in  the  body? 
Not  so.  "  We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment 
seat,  that  every  one  may  receive  then  the  things  done 
in  the  body."  ''  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die  ;"  and  after  that^  the  judgment ;  not  before,  but 
after. 

6.  As  it  regards  the  duration  of  the  reaping,  we 
have  nothing  to  rely  on  but  the  declaration  of  holy 
writ.  Christ  says,  "  these  shall  go  away  into  ever- 
lasting punishment ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and 
the  fire  is  not  quenched."  He  speaks  of  the  dividing 
gulf  as  not  only  great,  but  impassable.  If  any 
one  chooses  to  take  an  appeal  from  this  decision  of 
Jesus  Christ,  he  can  do  so. 

We  may  learn  some  things  from  this  subject. 

1.  Some  suppose  that,  if  a  man  is  only  sincere^  all 
will  be  well  with  him,  however  erroneous  his  views 
may  be,  and  however  wrong  his  conduct.  But  can 
sincerity  arrest  and  alter  the  tendencies  of  conduct  ? 
If  a  man  verily  thinking  he  is  sowing  wheat,  sow 
tares,  will  he  reap  wheat?  We  must  take  the  con- 
sequences of  our  conduct.  If  we  make  mistakes,  we 
must  suffer  the  evil  which  results  from  them.  We 
are  under  no  such  necessity  of  error  and  mistake  as 


283 

some  suppose.  The  mistake  of  infidelity  is  not  ne- 
cessary. Men  voluntarily  fall  into  it.  No  man  need 
be  an  infidel.  It  is  the  error  of  his  heart,  propaga- 
ting itself  to  his  intellect.  Many  an  infidel  has  ac- 
knowledged that  he  never  read  the  book  which  he 
disbelieves.  The  mistake  of  fundamental  heresy  is 
unnecessary.  He  who  errs  in  regard  to  the  way  of 
salvation,  errs  unnecessarily,  voluntarily.  That  we 
are  saved  by  grace,  through  faith  in  the  atonement 
of  the  divine  Jesus,  and  through  sanctification  of 
the  Spirit,  how,  as  with  a  sun-beam,  in  large  letters  of 
light  is  it  written  on  the  pages  of  inspiration  ! 

2.  We  may  learn  the  importance  of  beginning 
right ;  that  the  first  seeds  we  sow  should  be  good,  be- 
cause they  are  the  ^r5^;  they  sink  deepest.  And  ttie 
first  may  be  the  only  seeds  we  shall  sow.  If  you 
begin  not  early  to  sow  to  the  Spirit,  you  may  never 
sow  to  it. 

'  How  reasonable  then,  how  wise  early  repentance 
and  religion  !  How  absurd  for  a  man  to  say,  "  I  will 
first  sow  of  bad  seed  ;  and  then  afterwards  of  good." 
And  yet  many  think  children  and  young  persons 
may  very  well  pass  a  few  years  in  thoughtlessness, 
and  the  neglect  of  God  and  religion.  He  judged  not 
so  who  said,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
his  righteousness." 

We  have  all  sown  to  the  flesh,  and  therefore  all 
deserve  to  reap  corruption.  We  have  sinned,  and 
death  is  the  wages  of  sin.  And  we  have  naturally 
no  disposition  to  sow  except  to  the  flesh  ;  and  never 
such  an  inclination,  an  inclination  to  sow  to  the 
Spirit,  exists  in  us,  unless  the  Lord  put  it  there. 


284 


Wherefore  it  is  certain  that  if  left  to  ourselves,  we 
shall  go  on  sowing  to  the  flesh,  and  shall  reap  cor- 
ruption and  death. 

But  God  has  interposed  ;  and  now  the  nature  of 
the  crop  may  be  changed.  Christ  hath  expiated  the 
guilt  of  our  sinful  living,  and  provision  is  made  to 
arrest  the  consequences  of  our  sinful  living.  Now, 
he  who,  whatever  evil  seeds  he  may  have  scattered, 
and  however  long  sown  to  the  flesh,  sows  in  tears, 
indicative  of  true  repentance,  shall  reap  in  joy.  "  He 
that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed, 
shall  return  with  joy,  having  his  sheaves  with  him." 
Now,  he  who  looks  on  him  whom  he  has  pierced 
and  mourns  ;  he  who  beholds  the  Lamb  of  God, 
shall  have  his  sin  taken  away.  Nothing  now  but 
faith  and  repentance  will  produce  eternal  life  ;  and 
this  they  begin  to  produce  even  here. 

You  have  sown  that  from  which  you  shall  reap 
disquiet  only  ;  but  Christ  says,  ''  Come  unto  me  and 
ye  shall  have  rest  unto  your  souls.''  He  descended, 
died,  rose,  went  up,  took  his  seat  on  the  throne,  ever 
lives  to  intercede.  You  rejoice  ;  but  why  ?  Have 
you  any  interest  in  him?  Do  you  love  him?  Are 
you  following  him,  obeying  him  ?  Is  his  yoke  on 
you,  his  Spirit  in  you  ?  A  Saviour  he  is  ;  but  is  he 
your's  ?  Hast  thou  looked  on  him  as  pierced  by  thee 
and  mourned  ?  seen  him  through  thy  tears?  If  not, 
thou  art  a  lost,  condemned  being  still ;  and.  remain- 
ing so  till  death,  lost  forever,  worse  lost  than  if  there 
were  no  Christ. 


SERMON    XXI 


How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  honor  one  of  another,  and  seek 
not  the  honor  that  cometh  from  God  only  ? — John  v.  44. 


Is  it  not  strange,  say  some,  very  strange,  how  can 
it  be  accounted  for,  if  Christianity  comes  well  attest- 
ed, if  the  evidence  in  support  of  revelation  is  suffi- 
cient, that  there  have  always  been  and  are  now  so 
many  infidels  and  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
talent,  learning,  and  distinction  of  the  world  should 
be  found  on  the  side  of  infidelity?  Is  it  not  singu- 
lar, does  it  not  look  suspicious,  must  there  not  be 
some  capital  defect  in  the  evidences  of  Christianity, 
that  so  many  minds,  and  highly  gifted  minds  should 
not  admit  their  sufficiency  ?  Can  that  be  true  which 
so  many  of  the  sons  of  genius,  literature  and  philoso- 
phy reject  as  untrue?  It  is  upon  this  train  of  thought 
that  many  go  off  into  infidelity.  It  is  thus  that  many 
of  the  young  men  of  the  nation  reason  themselves 
into  scepticism.  They  are  drawn  away  from  the 
faith  into  which  they  were  baptized  by  the  attrac- 
tion of  some  greatintellect,  that  went  off  in  the  pur- 
suit of  some  phantom  of  ambition,  which  the  faith  of 
Christ  exposes,  or  for  the  indulgence  of  some  lust 
which  the  pure  system  of  Christianity  condemns. 
They  think  it  manly  to  follow  where  such  a  one 


286  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

leads,  and  if  it  be  to  err,  yet  they  cannot  think  it 
very  dangerous  to  err  in  such  company.  I  do  not 
know  that  it  is  any  more  respectable  to  be  led  by  a 
philosopher  or  politician,  than  to  be  led  by  a  priest. 
It  is  unworthy  of  an  intelligent  and  accountable  be- 
ing servilely  and  blindly  to  follow  any  mere  man  or 
class  of  men  ;  and  the  Protestant  priest,  (I  speak  for 
him,  let  the  Catholic  speak  for  himself,)  desires  no 
followers,  but  points  all  who  would  be  his  disciples 
to  his,  and  their  master,  one  to  follow  whom  involves 
no  degradation  of  mind,  nor  any  danger  of  mistake 
or  mischief.  But  not  to  go  off  too  far  on  this  track, 
suppose  it  is  stranofe  and  hard  to  be  accounted  for 
that  there  should  be  so  many  infidels,  and  infidels  of 
so  much  literary  and  intellectual  respectability,  is  it 
not  equally  strange,  indeed  may  I  not  say  more 
strange  that  there  should  be  so  many  believers,  and 
so  much  intellect  and  learning  on  the  side  of  the 
faith.  How  can  it  in  any  way  be  accounted  for,  if 
Christianity  is  not  well  attested,  that  it  should  be  be- 
lieved by  so  many,  and  by  such  men  as  Newton,  Locke, 
Bacon  and  Grotius,  men  that  occupied  higher  places 
of  intellect  than  any  infidel  ever  reached.  Have  we 
not  reason  to  suspect  the  cause  of  infidelity,  when 
such  numbers,  and  so  much  talent  and  learning  are 
arrayed  against  it?  The  infidel  has  something  to 
account  for,  as  well  as  the  believer.  Will  he  say, 
those  men  did  not  believe  Christianity,  they  could  not 
have  believed  such  a  system  :  it  is  true,  they  found 
it  convenient  to  profess  their  belief  of  it  ?  Then 
they  were  hypocrites;  and  this  is  the  charity  and 
good  breeding  of  infidelity,  that  when  their  boast  of 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  287 

greatnames,  (a  vain  boast  under  any  circumstances,) 
is  met  by  a  boast  of  greater  names,  they  turn  round 
and  will  have  it  that  these  more  eminent  men  were 
but  infidels  in  disguise.  A  cheap  kind  of  logic  this  ! 
how  conclusive  it  is  judge  ye. 

I  contend  that  however  it  may  be  now,  yet  in  the 
primitive  ages  of  Christianity,  the  difficulty  is  not  to 
account  for  the  existence  of  unbelievers,  but  for  the 
existence  of  believers,  on  any  other  supposition  than 
that  which  admits  the  truth  and  complete  evidence 
of  the  system.  There  was  nothing  in  Christianity 
to  attract  the  men  of  those  ages,  but  its  truth.  Its 
beauty  and  utility  appeared  not  until  after  it  was 
beheved  ;  they  depend  on  its  truth.  There  was 
no  temptation  to  become  a  Christian.  Every  world- 
ly consideration  dissuaded  from  it.  Until  the  fourth 
century  of  the  Christian  era  all  the  suffering  was  on 
the  side  of  the  Christians.  They  inflicted  nothing. 
It  was  all  endurance.  "  If  in  this  life  only  we  have 
hope,"  says  Paul  in  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  "we 
are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  Now  was  this 
avowal  well  calculated  to  make  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity ?  or  the  prominent  exhibition  of  this  indispen- 
sible  condition  of  discipleship,  "  So  then  whosoever 
he  be  of  you,  that  forsaketh  not  all  that  he  hath,  he 
cannot  be  my  disciple  ?"  IIow  could  such  a  system 
have  been  received  by  so  many,  and  at  so  great  a 
sacrifice,  if  not  true  and  well  attested  to  be  true  ? 
That  question  has  never  been  answered,  and  never 
can  be.  Let  the  infidel  cease  to  sneer,  the  blush  bet- 
ter becomes  him,  and  be  ashamed  of  his  infidelity, 


288  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

as  one  day,  when  the  grounds  of  his   unbehef  are 
revealed,  he  will. 

I  have  for  the  sake  of  argument  admitted  the  sup- 
position that  it  is  strange  and  not  easy  to  be  explained, 
that  there  should  be  so  many  infidels,  and  infidels  so 
distinguished.  But  I  do  not  admit  the  fact  that  it  is 
strange.  I  wonder  not  that  there  are  so  many 
infidels.  I  wonder  that  there  are  not  more.  I  won- 
der that  every  great  man  is  not  an  infidel.  I  know 
that  all  such  men  are  not  infidels,  and  I  rejoice  that 
they  are  not.  I  rejoice  on  their  own  account,  not  on 
account  of  Christianity,  and  for  the  credit  which 
their  adherance  gives  to  the  Christian  cause.  The 
Christian  religion  stands  in  no  need  of  tlieir  testi- 
mony. It  has  higher  and  more  satisfactory  attesta- 
tion than  any  man  or  all  men  can  give  it.  Were 
they  only  the  poor,  the  illiterate  and  the  despised  of 
men  that  embraced  it,  still  its  credentials  would  be 
complete,  for  they  are  divine.  It  has  the  signature 
and  seal  of  God  to  it.  It  has  received  the  repeated 
homage  of  nature  to  it.  It  is  a  fact,  which  comes  to 
us  on  evidence  as  complete  as  any  moral  evidence 
can  be,  that  nature's  great  laws  were  suspended  to 
bear  it  witness.  And  on  almost  its  every  page  there 
shines  a  light  sent  back  from  futurity,  and  revealing 
to  man  the  things  that  are  to  be  hereafter.  And  it 
attracts  and  fixes  the  profound  attention  and  pro- 
founder  admiration  of  minds  which  are  to  ours,  what 
ours  are  to  the  scanty  and  equivocal  intelligence  of 
the  brutes  ;  minds,  of  the  expansion  and  growth  of 
six  thousand  years  ;  minds  whose  bare  intuitions 
penetrate  deeper  far  than  our  most  studious  investi- 


289 

gallons,  and  whose  easiest  and  most  ordinary  exer- 
cises reach  far,  far  beyond  our  most  laborious  projec- 
tions of  thought.  It  has  the  consenting  testimony 
of  these.  It  wants  not  ours.  Let  the  great  men  of 
the  world,  (how  httle  they  are,  I  say  not  when  com- 
pared with  God,  but  when  compared  with  the  least, 
and  last-created  angel,)  do  as  they  please  about  be- 
hoving the  Christian  religion.  It  is  wihing  to  save 
them,  but  it  wanteth  not  their  testimony.  It  cares 
not  to  receive  any  thing  from  them,  though  it  has 
much  to  give  them,  if  they  will  accept  it.  It  is  not 
dependant  for  its  glory  on  any  man,  or  any  number 
and  order  of  men.  There  is  a  feeling  of  commise- 
ration in  some  hearts  towards  Christianity,  in  view 
of  the  multitude  and  might  of  its  enemies  ;  but  pity 
was  never  so  inappropriately  exercised.  It  is  mightier 
through  God  than  all  its  foes.  Many  it  has  conciliated 
and  many  destroyed,  and  all  that  remain  must  sub- 
mit to  its  sway,  or  perish  by  its  sword,  for  God  him- 
self is  pledged  for  its  triumphing. 

I  said  a  little  while  ago  that  I  was  not  surprised 
there  should  be  so  many  distinguished  infidels.  I  am 
not,  for  the  reason  mentioned  in  the  text ;  "How  can 
they  believe,  who  receive  honor  one  of  another,  and 
seek  not  the  honor  that  cometh  from  God  only?"  Proud 
men,  men  ambitious,  swollen  with  self  admiration,  and 
seeking  with  supreme  desire  the  admiration  of  others, 
and  caring  less  for  the  approbation  of  God,  than 
for  the  applause  which  mortals  can  give,  how  can 
these  believe?  The  politician  that  does  all  his  sac- 
rifices at  the  shrihe  of  popularity,  and  obeys  the  will 
of  the  people  rather  than  that  of  God,  and  to  party 

25 


290 


sacrifices  conscience,  and  justice,  and  humanity  ;  the 
man  of  honor  who  dreads  more  the  sneer  of  the 
world  than  the  power  of  the  Ahnighty,  and  will 
rather  run  the  risk  of  dying  and  being  damned,  than 
encounter  the  certainty  of  being  despised  by  a  few, 
whose  approbation  is  the  deepest  disgrace  ;  the  hero 
who  tramples  on  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  in  the 
hot  pursuit  of  military  glor^^,  and  the  woman  of  fash- 
ion,  who,  to  thcit  fickle  goddess,  pays  her  daily  ado- 
rations, and  he  who,  whether  he  writes  or  speaks,  or 
whatever  he  does,  has  human  distinction  for  his  ob- 
ject; how  can  these  believe,  how  can  they  admit  the 
claims  of  a  meek  and  lowly  Saviour,  how  can  these 
supreme  lovers  of  the  world  become  the  subjects  of 
him  whose  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  and  who 
has  not  one  secular  honor  or  terrestrial  distinction  to 
confer,  how  can  these  who  live  on  admiration  con- 
sent to  run  the  risk  of  being,  what  all  his  followers 
may  expect  to  be,  despised  of  men?  How  can  they 
embrace  a  system  which  not  only  forbids  them  to 
court  the  applause  of  others,  but  even  requires  them 
to  abhor  themselves  ?  How  abhorrent  to  the  proud 
must  be  a  system  whose  first  object  is  to  mortify 
pride,  and  superinduce  humility  !  How  can  these  be- 
lieve ?  That  they  should  be  real  Christians,  while 
such  moral  dispositions  predominate  in  them,  is  im- 
possible ;  and  it  is  on  many  accounts  surprising  that 
they  should  be  even  speculative  believers. 

But  how  is  this?  you  say.  If  the  evidence  in  fa- 
vor of  Christianity  is  sufficient  for  conviction,  how 
should  their  courting  honor  one  of  another,  be  any 
hindrance  to  their  believing  ?     Is  not  faith  the  invol- 


291 

untary  assent  of  the  mind  in  view  of  testimony? 
And  can  the  moral  feelings  of  a  man  interpose  to 
hinder  that  assent,  when  the  testimony  is  satisfacto- 
ry ?  Has  a  man  power  to  beheve  that  to  be  false 
which  he  wishes  to  be  false  ?  Are  we  not  involun- 
tary in  our  belief,  and  therefore  irresponsible  for  it? 
This  is  the  current  opinion,  I  know ;  and  among  no 
class  of  men  has  it  gained  greater  currency  than 
among  the  more  distinguished.  Often  has  it  been 
proclaimed  from  lips  esteemed  oracular  ;  and  I  have 
seen  it  reported  as  having  been  expressed  on  the 
floor  of  Congress,  that  we  have  no  sort  of  control  over 
our  belief  It  is  true  to  some  extent ;  but  as  a  uni- 
versal proposition  there  is  nothing  more  false  ;  and 
there  is  nothing  more  pernicious  than  to  receive  it  as 
true.  It  is  to  adopt  infidelity  at  once.  The  sentiment 
is  abhorrent  to  the  Scriptures,  and  he  who  embraces 
this  very  common  opinion,  is  an  infidel,  whether  he 
knows  it  or  not.  How  can  he  intelligently  adopt  a 
system  which  suspends  salvation  on  the  exercise  of 
faith,  when  such  are  his  views  of  faith  ?  But  I  would 
not  have  you  reject  a  notion  simply  because  I  say  it 
is  unchristian.     Let  us  look  at  it. 

Evidence  is  of  several  kinds,  sensible^  mathemati- 
cal and  moral.  If  the  evidence  in  support  of  any 
truth  or  fact  be  sensible  or  mathematical,  we  confess 
that  the  control  we  have  over  our  convictions  is  very 
slight.  It  extends  no  farther  than  we  can  restrain 
the  exercise  of  our  senses.  We  can  shut  our  eyes 
and  stop  our  ears,  but  that  is  all.  If  the  evidence  is 
presented,  we  cannot  help  believing  according  to  it. 
In  the  case  of  a  proposition  supported  by  mathemati- 


292 


cal  evidence,  our  only  power  is  to  refuse  to  pursue 
the  chain  of  reasoning  to  its  completion.  If  we  do 
trace  it  through,  we  arrive  at  the  demonstration,  and 
that  is  irresistible.  We  may  hate  the  conclusion, 
but  we  must  admit  it ;  however  much  we  may  wish 
not  to  beHeve,  yet  we  cannot  help  believing.  It  is 
quite  different,  when  the  evidence  is  moral,  of  that 
kind  on  which  Christianity  claims  our  behef.  In 
this  case,  our  power  over  our  convictions  extends 
much  farther.  In  the  first  place,  we  can  decline, 
and  this  much  more  easily  and  effectually  than  in 
the  other  cases,  to  contemplate  and  weigh  the  evi- 
dence. And  this  is  what  the  majority  of  infidels  do. 
They  do  not  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion.  How  should  they  1  They  have  never 
studied  its  evidences  ;  they  have  never  examined 
its  credentials.  Peradventure  they  have  never  read 
the  book  which  gives  an  account  of  this  religion. 
Some  distinguished  deists,  among  whom  was  Hume, 
have  acknowledged  that  they  had  never  read  the 
New  Testament  through  ;  and,  I  doubt  not,  candor 
would  draw  forth  the  same  confession  from  very 
many.  They  have  too  much  to  do  to  undertake  the 
regular  perusal  of  the  Bible,  and  the  careful  exami- 
nation of  the  documents  of  Christianity.  They  are 
too  much  taken  up  with  the  pursuits  of  ambition  ; 
too  intently  occupied  with  their  schemes  of  self-ag- 
grandizement, or  with  their  devoirs  to  fashion.  Yet 
these  are  they  who  tell  us  there  is  no  truth  or  sense 
in  Christianity  ;  and  the  mightiness  of  their  intellect 
is  considered  as  a  good  reason  why  it  must  be  as 
they  say,  and  they  lead  astray  many,  when,  in  fact, 


293 

the  subject  has  never  been  submitted  to  their  intel- 
lect. 

But  even  when  the  moral  evidence  is  brought  be- 
fore the  mind,  our  control  over  our  convictions  does 
not  cease.  When  the  thing  to  be  proved  is  what 
we  do  not  like,  and  would  wish  not  to  be  true,  who 
knows  not  in  how  many  ways  the  mind  may  resist 
the  force  of  the  evidence  presented  to  it,  and  how 
easily  it  may  prevail  to  remain  unconvinced  in  view 
of  what  amounts  to  absolute  moral  demonstration  ; 
how  ready  it  is  at  making  and  magnifying  objections ! 
how  keen  to  discern  and  invent  difficulties,  and  how 
prone,  when  they  fall  in  with  its  prejudices,  to  lay 
an  undue  stress  upon  them.  Take  any  literary  pro- 
duction of  antiquity,  about  the  authorship  and  credi- 
bility of  which  there  exists  now  no  doubt,  and  sup- 
pose its  contents  to  be  as  objectionable  and  abhorrent 
to  us,  as  the  statements  of  the  Bible  are  to  many  ; 
suppose  it  to  contain  the  same  sombre  description  of 
the  human  character,  and  to  indulge  in  the  same 
gloomy  prediction  of  wrath  and  ruin,  so  that  we 
should  feel  ourselves  deeply  interested  to  make  it 
out  untrue,  and  do  you  suppose  that  we  should  be 
at  any  loss  in  imagining  objections  to  it,  and  that  we 
should  find  any  very  great  difficulty  in  persuading 
ourselves  of  its  incredibility  ?  We  do  not  give  the 
Bible  the  same  fair  chance  to  work  conviction  in  us, 
that  we  do  other  books.  We  come  to  the  examina- 
tion of  its  credentials,  if  we  come  at  all,  with  a  host 
of  prejudices  against  its  contents.  We  are  not 
merely  indifferent  to  its  truth  or  falsehood  ;  we  are 
more.     We  positively  wish  it  may  not  be  true.     I 

25* 


294  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

personate  many  when  I  say  tiiis.  They  perceive 
that,  if  the  Bible  be  a  book  of  truth,  there  is  no  good 
ground  for  that  self  complacency  which  they  have 
been  wont  to  indulge,  and  no  foundation  for  that 
confidence  with  which  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  look  forward  to  the  future.  They  see  the  con- 
tempt it  pours  on  human  pride,  the  condemnation  it 
passes  on  the  course  which  the  men  of  the  world  are 
pursuing,  the  dark  colors  in  which  it  portrays  the 
character  of  man,  the  humiliation  to  which  it  would 
bring  him  down,  the  change  of  heart  and  Ufe  which 
it  pronounces  necessary  to  his  salvation,  and  the  in- 
finitely fearful  consequences  if  he  goes  on  in  the 
path,  which  they  are  conscious  they  are  pursuing. 
They  see  that  there  is  no  chance  for  them,  if  the 
Bible  be  true,  unless  they  submit  to  a  change,  to 
which  now  they  feel  a  mortal  aversion.  If  they  ad- 
mit its  truth,  unless  they  can  interpret  away  its 
plainest  statements,  they  can  have  no  more  peace, 
remaining  as  they  are  ;  they  must  repent  or  perish  ; 
they  must  renounce  sin  or  be  ruined  by  it.  Now 
they  have  no  disposition  to  repent;  they  have  no 
objection  to  be  a  litlle  sorry,  but  they  like  the  course 
they  are  pursuing  too  well  to  abandon  it.  How  can 
they,  under  such  circumstances,  beUeve  ?  How 
easily  they  can  disbelieve !  With  how  Httle  diffi- 
culty they  can  overlook  or  set  aside  the  evidence  in 
favor  of  a  book  which  tells  them  such  things  !  There 
is  the  whole  heart  persuading  them  to  it:  and  have 
you  yet  to  learn  how  great  an  influence  the  heart 
has  upon  the  understanding  ?     Ah  !  this  is  the  way 


295 

that  infidels  are  made.  Let  them  look  at  it  and  be 
ashamed  at  the  process  by  which  they  arrive  at  their 
scepticism.  They  adopt  a  practice  incompatible 
with  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  and  not  willing  to 
change  their  practice,  and  not  willing  to  entertain 
principles  which  condemn  their  practice,  they  reject 
them  as  unsound.  They  are  bent  on  doing  evil,  and 
^'  every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  neither 
cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  re- 
proved." The  free  thinker  is  apt  to  be  first  a  free 
liver.  Show  us  a  praying  infidel ;  let  us  see  a 
holy  sceptic,  an  unbeliever,  who  from  religious  con- 
siderations crucifies  his  lusts,  and  denies  himself; 
show  us  a  society  of  infidels  laboriously  exerting  them- 
selves and  liberally  contributing  to  do  good  to  man- 
kind, and  for  the  existence  of  such  infidels  we  may 
find  it  hard  to  account;  but  how  there  should  be 
such  as  are,  it  is  no  difficult  matter  to  say.  They 
never  pray  ;  they  ask  no  favors  even  of  God;  and 
what  they  call  their  gratitude,  is  rendered  to  nature  ; 
they  have  no  fear  of  Jehovah  before  their  eyes  ;  re- 
ligious considerations  have  no  weight  with  tliem ; 
and  what  is  the  good  some  of  them  would  do  ?  They 
would  dissolve  the  holy  tie  of  marriage,  they  would 
break  in  upon  the  family  circle,  and  overturn  the 
domestic  altar,  and  consign  the  education  of  children 
to  those  who  have  no  natural  affection  to  secure  their 
fidelity,  they  would  trespass  on  the  sacred  right  of 
property,  and  give  to  the  winds  the  consolations  and 
hopes  of  Christianity,  and  all,  that  men  may  be  freed 
from  the  superstition  of  fearing  God,  and  foreboding 


296 


a  future  punishment  of  their  crimes  ;  this  is  the  good 
they  would  do.  And  to  this  is  the  tendency  of  all 
infidelity  ;  though  some  stop  short  of  this  extreme. 

The  term  faith  means  in  the  Bible  not  merely  spe- 
culative belief,  assent  to  the  truth  of  Christianity  in 
view  of  its  evidences.  It  frequently  stands  for  the 
whole  of  religion.  To  believe  is  to  be  a  Christian. 
Now  if  there  are  moral  dispositions,  which  are  in- 
compatible with  even  theoretical  faith,  how  much 
more  are  they  with  experimental  and  practical  Chris- 
tianity. How  can  they  believe,  that  is,  be  real  Chris- 
tians, followers  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  court  honor, 
who  are  bent  on  the  pursuits  of  ambition,  who  are 
greedy  after  fame,  and  seek  more  a  reputation 
among  men,  tban  to  be  in  good  repute  with  God  ? 
How  can  they  cordially  adopt  and  submit  themselves 
to  the  system  of  Christianity  ?  I  may  ask  the 
same  question  of  others  ;  how  can  they  who  are  so 
bent  on  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  as  to  be  in 
God's  sight  guilty  of  that  covetousness,  which  is  idol- 
atry equally  as  Hindooism  is ;  how  can  they  be- 
lieve, who  supremely  love  this  world  in  any  of  its 
forms  ;  they  who  enamoured  of  pleasure,  pursue  her 
in  all  her  paths,  and  follow  her  into  all  her  haunts  ; 
who  serve  divers  lusts  and  passions,  or  one  only ; 
they  who  supremely  seek  their  own,  and  not  the 
things  which  are  Jesus  Christ's ;  they  who  can- 
not consent  to  deny  themselves  and  take  the  cross, 
how  can  they  be  Christians?  they  who  tread  what 
is  called  the  path  of  honor  ;  that  cringe  and  bow  for 
popular  favor  ;  that  follow  in  the  train  of  fashion, 
how  can  they  believe,  how  can  ye  believe,  my  hearers  ? 


297 

Are  there  not  many  things  in  your  character  and 
conduct  incompatible  with  saving  Christianity? 
See,  if  there  be  not,  and  what  they  are.  Must  there 
not  be  a  great  change  in  you,  before  you  can  be 
recognized  as  Christians  in  view  of  the  statements 
of  the  word  of  God  ?  Here  is  this  you  must  do,  for 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  requires  it,  and  there 
is  that  you  must  leave  undone,  for  the  same  Gospel 
forbids  it ;  and  some  of  you  have  formed  habits  which 
you  must  break  off.  and  selected  companies  that  you 
must  forsake,  whatever  be  the  sacrifice,  else  how  can 
ye  believe  and  be  saved?  There  are  obstacles 
which  you  have  raised  up  in  your  way,  and  must 
surmount ;  difficulties  that  you  have  created,  and 
must  remove.  You  must  repent  and  be  converted, 
or  else  realize  the  doom  of  unbelief,  die  in  your  sins, 
and  where  Christ  is  be  forever  forbidden  to  come. 

How  can  ye  believe  that  receive  honor  one  of 
another?  And  will  ye  not  renounce  and  forsake 
and  deny  yourselves  that,  whatever  it  be,  which 
is  incompatible  with  your  being  Christians,  that 
which  hinders  you  from  going  to  Christ,  and  will 
hinder  you  from  going  to  heaven  ?  Oh  !  pluck  out 
the  right  eye  and  cut  off  the  right  hand,  though  it 
pain,  incommode  and  deform  you,  if  it  be  necessary 
to  enter  into  life.  You  know  the  sin  that  besets  you, 
the  lust  you  indulge,  the  reason  you  are  not  a  Chris- 
tian, and  will  you  cling  to  it  ?  What  if  the  fruit  be 
luscious,  the  core  is  poison. 

What  if  the  first  draughts  of  the  cup  are  sweet, 
the  dregs  are  death  and  hell :  if  you  drink  on,  you 
must  drink  all. 


SERMON    XXII. 

Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate. — Luke  xiii.  24. 

How  much  of  human  life,  short  enough  at  best 
for  the  business  that  is  allotted  to  it,  and  always  to 
be  presumed  to  be  short  in  the  remainder  of  it  by  its 
subject,  ignorant  as  he  is  of  the  future,  is  occupied 
with  mere  impertinences  !  How  we  waste  that  of 
which  we  have  none  to  spare,  and  which  may  be 
worth  as  much  to  us,  as  the  very  soul  itself,  in  curi- 
ous questions,  in  fruitless  speculations,  or  in  action 
that  has  no  bearing  on  any  of  the  mighty  and  mo- 
mentous objects  for  which  we  live.  Do  we  not  some- 
times think  within  ourselves,  and  perhaps  in  a  spirit 
of  murmuring,  that  it  is  a  very  short  season  indeed 
which  God  has  allotted  us  for  a  long,  long  eternity ; 
that  he  might  have  allowed  us  more  time  ;  that  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  we  have  to  do,  requires  a  day 
of  greater  and  less  precious  length  ?  And  yet  we 
seem  to  have  enough  and  some  to  spare.  Why 
should  we  complain  that  we  have  so  little,  when  we 
make  no  more  use  of  that  we  have  ?  If  we  began 
our  work  in  the  morning  as  soon  as  we  are  capable 
of  understanding  what  we  have  to  do,  and  thence 
forward  labored  diligently  and  constantly  at  our 
work,  and  wasted  none  of  the  day  in  unnecessary 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  299 

speculations,  or  on  by-concernments,  and  still  the  night 
should  shut  in  upon  us,  with  our  work  unfinished, 
we  might  with  more  appearance  of  reason  complain. 
But  this  is  never  the  case.  Our  work,  though  great, 
is  soon  accomplished,  if  undertaken  with  earnestness 
and  pursued  with  energy.  And  though  a  Christian 
would  find  something  to  do,  however  long  he  should 
live,  yet  the  same  Being  who  cuts  short  his  hfe, 
cancels  at  the  same  time  his  obligations,  so  far  as 
they  are  connected  with  this  world.  The  truth  is 
that  men  desire  a  longer  life  of  God,  not  for  the  sake 
of  the  work,  which  he  has  given  them  to  do,  but  for 
the  accomplishment  of  that,  which  they  have  cut 
out  for  themselves,  for  the  compassing  of  their  own 
schemes  of  profit  and  pleasure.  The  secret  of  their 
complainings  is,  that  they  have  not  time  enough  for 
that  for  which  it  was  never  intended  that  they  should 
have  any  time.  After  all,  what  is  the  grand  business 
of  human  life;  I  say  o/^/?/ not  the  business,  because 
while  there  is  one  supreme  end,  there  are  subordinate 
objects,  to  some  of  which  we  may  lawfully,  if  we 
please,  and  to  some  of  which  we  must  in  duty  apply 
ourselves  ;  but  the  grand  business,  which  a  sinner 
has  to  accomplish,  that,  the  doing  of  which  makes 
him  ripe  for  death,  however  young  he  may  be  in 
years  ;  safe  in  dying  and  secure  of  immortal  life  and 
happiness?  It  is  to  i^sk  one  practical  question, 
''  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  to  act  agree- 
ably to  the  answer,  which  God  gives  to  it,  "  Believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  enter  ye  in  at  the  strait 
gate."  For  this  who  can  say  that  he  has  not  time 
enough  ?     Might  he  not  ask  this  question,  while  he 


300 


is  asking-,  "  Who  will  show  us  any  good?"  And  in 
some  of  the  hours  in  which  he  is  occupied  in  the  vain 
pursuit  of  the  good  he  asks  for,  might  he  not  suc- 
cessfully strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  ?  And 
though  it  would  require  a  different  effort  from  any 
he  now  makes,  yet  would  it  require  on  the  whole  a 
greater  effort  ?     But,  alas  !  he  has  no  heart  to  it. 

I  have  been  led  into  this  train  of  observation  by 
the  circumstance,  which  drew  forth  from  our  Sa- 
viour the  words  of  the  text.  A  certain  person  asked 
him  this  question,  "  Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?" 
Behold  here  a  man  enjoying  the  rare  and  precious 
opportunity  of  an  interview  with  the  Son  of  God, 
and  Fee  what  use  he  makes  of  it ;  permitted  to  inter- 
rogate the  divine  Saviour,  and  hear  what  a  question 
he  asks,  how  impractical,  how  impertinent.  What  was 
it  to  him  whether  many  or  few  would  be  saved? 
Whether  there  were  few  or  many,  would  not  affect 
the  conditions  of  his  salvation.  Why  this  curiosity 
on  the  subject  of  other's  salvation,  without  any  appa- 
rent anxiety  about  his  own  ?  He  wants  to  know 
how  many  would  be  in  heaven  ;  but  not  how  he 
might  get  there.  What  a  foolish  man,  that  he  did 
not  avail  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  ask  what  he 
must  do  to  be  saved,  and  to  draw  forth  from  the  great 
teacher  something  that  he  might  make  a  practical 
use  of! 

The  man  that  asked  this  question  has  long  been 
dead,  but  the  character  lives,  and  it  is  not  among  the 
rarest  exhibitions  that  we  see.  See  what  opportuni- 
ties we  have  !  What  privileges  are  afforded  us  by 
the  Sabbath,  and  by  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  ; 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  301 

and  above  all  by  the  having  in  our  possession  and 
ever  at  hand,  this  vohime,  containing  the  record  of 
what  the  Saviour  said,  and  the  history  of  what  he 
did,  and  the  writings  of  his  immediate  and  inspired 
disciples.  Have  not  we  too  an  opportunity  of  inter- 
rogating the  Son  of  God  ?  Does  he  not  answer  from 
this  oracle  ?  Yet  peradventure  we  make  no  better 
use  of  our  opportunity,  than  the  man  of  whom  we 
have  been  speakins;,  did  of  his.  We  carry  to  the 
Bible,  if  not  the  very  same  question  he  put  to  the 
Saviour,  yet  questions  as  unpractical  and  irrelevant, 
or  if  not  in  every  sense  irrelevant,  yet  premature  and 
of  minor  importance  ;  and  so  it  is  when  you  have  the 
opportunity  of  conversing  with  clergymen  and 
others,  for  whose  theological  knowledge,  and  science 
in  the  Scriptures,  you  have  some  respect.  Your  ques- 
tions are  such  as  these,  '^  what  is  likely  to  be  the  fu- 
ture condition  of  such  as  die  in  infancy?"  Cannot 
you  trust  them  in  the  hands  of  God?  Are  you 
afraid  that  he  will  do  them  injustice  ?  "  What  is  the 
probability  of  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  ?"  And 
why  do  you  wish  to  estimate  that  ?  Is  not  this  one 
thing  clear,  that  their  condition  for  the  present  life, 
and  their  prospects  for  the  life  to  come  would  both 
be  far  better,  provided  they  had  the  Gospel  ?  And  is 
it  not  manifestly  your  duty  to  do  all  that  is  in  your 
power  to  send  them  the  Gospel  ?  What  then  do  you 
want  more  ?  Why  expend  all  your  charity  in  won- 
dering, and  wishing,  and  hoping,  and  pitying?  Let 
it  rather  flow  forth  in  its  appropriate  channel,  in  ac- 
tion. Do  something.  Promote  foreign  missions. 
That  is  the  way  to  care  for  the  heathens.     Another 

26 


302  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

is  curious  to  know  if  we  shall  recognize  each  other 
in  heaven.  That  is  taking  it  for  granted  that  we 
shall  get  there.  Let  us  make  sure  of  heaven,  before 
we  agitate  the  question  of  recognition.  And  then 
let  us  be  satisfied  with  this,  if  our  heavenly  Father 
sees  that  it  will  be  conducive  to  the  happiness  of  the 
children  whom  he  has  adopted  from  earth,  that  they 
should  recognize  each  other,  and  recollect  the  rela- 
tions and  renew  the  intimacies  of  life  ;  it  will  be  so, 
and  if  not,  it  will  be  otherwise.  Another  is  anxious 
to  know  if  there  will  be  different  degrees  of  punish- 
ment in  a  future  world.  Why  does  he  not  rather 
consider  what  the  lowest  degree  will  be,  how  intoler- 
able ;  and  that  whatever  may  be  the  varieties  of  in- 
tensity, the  duration  in  every  case  will  be  equal, 
because  everlasting.  Or  his  question  is  perhaps 
whether  the  instrument  of  future  punishment  will 
be  material  f  re.  Why  is  he  not  satisfied  with  this, 
that  if  it  will  not  be  literal  fire,  it  will  at  least  be 
something  of  which  that  is  the  fittest  similitude? 
Others  carry  to  their  Bible  such  a  question  as  this, 
<'When  may  the  millenium  be  expected  to  occur? 
and  is  it  to  be  presumed  that,  in  that  blessed  period, 
all  the  individuals  of  the  human  family  will  be  righ- 
teous, or  only  the  generality  of  mankind  ?" 

I  say  not  that  such  inquiries  are  never  under  any 
circumstances  innocent,  and  proper  to  some  extent 
to  be  pursued.  But  I  ask  what  he  has  to  do  with 
them,  who  has  a  soul  unsaved,  and  exposed  to  all 
the  terrors  and  torments  of  an  imminent  perdition, 
and  who  has  never  yet  asked  what  he  must  do  to 
escape  this  great  impending  evil  ? 


303 


There  are  those  who  investigate  the  Scriptures 
primarily  for  some  historical  purpose,  or  to  resolve 
some  prophetical  question.  Others  consult  these 
oracles  but  as  critics ;  and  still  others,  only  as  cavil- 
lers, anxious  to  see  how  much  they  can  discover  to 
find  fault  with.  They  wonder  what  this  passage 
means,  or  how  it  is  possible  to  reconcile  this  part 
of  the  Bible  with  that,  or  what  could  have  induced 
our  Saviour  to  express  himself  as  he  is  reported  to 
have  done  on  certain  occasions  which  they  will  spe- 
cify ;  and  the  conclusion  to  which  they  come,  per- 
haps, after  all,  is  that  this  is  a  very  strange  and  un- 
intelligible volume  ;  they  can  make  nothing  out  of  it. 
Ah !  and  is  it  so  that  they  can  niake  nothing  out  of 
it  7  Can  they  not  make  out  of  it  what  their  duty  is? 
Do  they  not  but  too  plainly  perceive  that  it  is  some- 
thing, which  they  have  no  disposition  to  do,  and  is 
not  this  the  secret  of  their  fault-finding?  What  if 
that  passage  be  obscure,  does  it  render  unintelligible 
this,  "Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish  ?" 
What  if,  with  all  our  efforts,  we  are  unable  to  dis- 
cern the  coherence  and  consistency  between  this  in- 
spired declaration  and  that  other?  Does  it  follow 
that  they  are  incoherent  in  fact,  and  that  the  Bible  is 
an  imposition  on  mankind  ?  Were  there,  therefore, 
no  miracles  e^^er  wrought,  or  was  the  present  extra- 
ordinary condition  of  the  Jewish  people  not  foretold 
some  4000  years  ago?  Is  the  Gospel  false  and 
nothing  worth,  and  is  there  no  benevolence  in  the 
plan  of  salvation,  because  there  are  some  things  in 
Paul's  Epistles,  which  are  hard  to  be  understood  ? 
Or,  does  it  follow  that  there  was  no  meekness  and 


304 


gentleness,  no  condescension  and  love  in  the  charac- 
ter and  conduct  of  Jesus  Christ,  because  he  once 
uttered  what  his  disciples  conceived  to  be  a  hard 
saying? 

But  I  am  dwelling  unintentionally  and  dispropor- 
tionately long  on  this  part  of  my  subject.  I  have 
thought  it  necessary  however  to  let  you  see  with 
how  much  curiosity,  and  with  how  little  concern 
men  read  the  Bible  and  hear  the  Gospel  preached. 
What  a  number  of  inquiries  they  have  to  make  about 
the  mere  circumstances  of  religion,  while  about  the 
thing  itself  they  have  scarcely  a  question  to  ask. 
How  few  of  you,  my  hearers,  bring  to  this  place,  and 
carry  to  your  Bibles  the  great  practical  inquiry, 
"  What  must  1  do  to  be  saved  ?''  And  is  not  this 
reason  enough  why  you  are  profited  no  more  by 
your  reading  and  hearing  ? 

But,  to  return.  The  man  asked,  "Are  there  few 
that  be  saved  ?"  "  And  he  said  unto  them,"  (for  there 
were  many  standing  by,  waiting  for  his  answer,  and 
he  directed  it  to  them  all,)  "  He  said  to  them,"  not 
what  they  expected  him  to  say  ;  he  replies  to  what 
the  question  ought  to  have  been,  rather  than  to  what 
it  was.  He  does  not  tell  them  whether  few  or  many 
would  be  saved,  though,  on  another  occasion,  when 
no  such  question  was  asked,  when  he  was  enforcing 
the  duty  of  entering  in  at  the  strait  g  ite  by  various 
considerations,  he  introduces  among  others  this 
"and  few  there  be  that  find  it."  Then  when  a  duty 
was  to  be  urged,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  avow  the 
fact ;  but  here,  when  mere  curiosity  was  to  be  grati- 
fied, he  withholds   it;   and   he  acted  consistently. 


305 


He  was  always  a  practical  preacher  ;  he  would  not 
amuse;  he  would  instruct  and  aduionish.  He  came 
to  the  world,  not  to  answer  curious,  but  useful  ques- 
tions ;  not  to  demonstrate  theorems,  but  to  solve  the 
one  grand  problem,  "How  shall  man  be  just  with 
God  ?"  "  What  must  he  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  this 
is  one  among  the  proofs  of  the  divinity  of  his  mis- 
sion ;  as  it  is  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  truth  of 
the  Bible  generally,  that  it  is  manifestly  a  book  never 
intended  to  gratify  curiosity,  a  book  whose  aim 
throughout  is  usefulness,  a  practical  work  ;  and,  by- 
the-way,  it  would  be  of  essential  service  to  us,  if,  in 
reading  the  Bible,  we  would  ever  bear  in  mind  this 
characteristic  of  the  book.  We  should  cease  to  won- 
der why  so  many  circumstances  are  passed  over  in 
silence,  and  why  so  many  explanations  are  omitted, 
and  why  some  of  its  narratives  are  so  void  of  detail 
in  their  progress,  and  so  abrupt  in  their  conclusion. 
How  different  a  book  the  Bible  would  have  been,  if 
it  had  been  gotten  up  by  uninspired  men.  How 
much  particularity  it  would  have  contained  ;  and,  if 
we  may  judge  of  what  it  would  have  been  from 
what  the  contemporary  writings  of  the  Jewish 
doctors  are,  what  niceties  and  what  puerilities 
would  have  been  found  in  it !  How  much  would 
have  been  written  merely  to  gratify  a  vain  and  mor- 
bid curiosity  !  And  what  arts,  intended  to  recom- 
mend the  work,  would  have  been  apparent  through- 
out it  !  The  Bible,  on  this  supposition,  would  have 
been  what  the  Apocrypha  is  now  ;  and  we  should 
have  had  in  our  New  Testament,  what  we  have  in 
the  Apocryphal  New  Testament,  such  pieces  as  the 
26* 


306 

Gospel  of  the  birth  of  Mary,  the  Gospel  of  the  in 
fancy  of  Jesus,  and  the  correspondence  of  Paul  and 
Seneca.  The  more  familiar  1  make  myself  with  the 
Bible,  the  more  lirmly  am  I  persuaded  from  the 
internal  evidence  alone,  that  it  could  not  have  been 
the  work  of  unaided  men,  that  it  must  be  the  work 
of  God.  In  its  details,  as  well  as  in  its  general  cha- 
racteristics, how  exceedino:ly  unlike  the  productions 
of  men  it  is  ;  especially  how  unlike  the  productions 
of  the  age,  in  which  it  appeared  among  men.  But 
to  return  from  this  departure  also.  "And  he  said 
unto  them  ;"  hear  v/hat  he  said  to  them,  for  he  says 
it  to  you  also.  Instead  of  telling  them  how  many, 
or  how  few  would  be  saved,  he  would  put  them  on 
doing  something  to  secure  their  own  salvation.  He 
recommends  that  they  should  make  an  immediate, 
direct,  and  powerful  personal  effort  towards  a  single, 
distinct,  and  definite  object.  "  Strive ;  all  of  you 
and  every  one  for  himself,  for  it  is  a  personal  con- 
cern ;  there  can  be  no  partnership  in  this  business. 
And  do  it  now,  and  not  lazily  and  feebly.  "Strive  to 
enter  in  at  the  strait  gate." 

Observe  the  object  which  Christ  directs  them  to 
have  in  view,  entering  in  at  the  strait  gate.  Heaven 
is  represented  to  us  as  a  goal,  and  eternal  life  as  a 
prize,  hung  up,  as  it  were,  at  the  goal ;  and  we  are 
told  of  a  way,  which  conducts  to  it,  and  it  is  said  to 
be  a  narrow  way,  and  there  is  but  one.  All  others 
are  but  paths  in  the  broad  way,  which  leads  to  de- 
struction. Now  the  way  to  heaven  and  life,  this 
narrow  way,  is  entered  by  agate  yet  more  narrow, 
called  here  "  the  strait  gate,"  for  there  is  only  one, 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  307 

and  this  gate  communicates  with  the  broad  way,  in 
which  the  Gospel  finds  us  all  travelling.  The  object 
proposed  is,  that  they  should  leave  the  broad  way 
and  enter  by  this  gate  into  the  narrow  way ;  that 
they  should  change  the  direction  of  their  goings; 
that  they  should  set  their  faces  and  their  feet  toward 
heaven ;  that  they  should  essentially  alter  their 
course;  in  other  words,  that  they  should  begin  the 
business  of  reliofion.  And  as  relicrion  begins  in  re- 
generation  or  conversion,  this  great  change  is  that 
which  they  are  to  propose  and  for  which  they  are  to 
strive  ;  or  we  may  say  it  is  faith  and  repentance,  in- 
asmuch as  these  are  the  first  and  immediate  exercises 
of  a  regenerate  nature.  This  then  is  the  object  they 
are  directed  to  propose  to  themselves.  And  you  see 
it  is  not  merely  to  do  better  than  they  had  been  ac- 
customed to  do,  to  cast  off  some  few  bad  habits,  to 
reform  their  conduct  in  some  respects,  and  to  be  more 
attentive  to  the  external  duties  of  religion,  (for  this 
would  not  be  to  change  their  direction,  but  simply  to 
walk  more  circumspectly  in  the  broad  way,  to  choose 
out  and  pursue  a  more  respectable  and  less  frequent- 
ed path  to  perdition  ;  and  this  is  all  that  some 
propose  to  do,  all  that  they  think  necessary  to  be 
done  ;)  but  our  Saviour  recommends  much  more,  a 
radical  reformation  of  the  heart,  a  great  spiritual 
change  of  the  inner,  as  well  as  of  the  outer  man,  a 
final  forsaking  of  the  broad  way.  And  this  object 
he  directs  them  to  set  distinctly  and  definitely  before 
them ;  they  miist  propose  and  pursue  it,  they  must 
not  expect  to  reach  it  by  any  random  efforts,  they 
must  aim  at  it.     The  eye  must  be  on  it,  and  the  ef- 


308 


fort  direct  to  reach  it.  They  must  make  exertions 
with  salvation  for  their  definite  object.  What  mul- 
titudes never  do  this,  never  propose  their  salvation 
and  pursue  it  as  a  separate  object ;  they  expect  it  by 
the  by,  as  the  result  of  certaiu  indirect  efforts,  they 
endeavor  they  say  to  do  their  duty,  to  lead  an  up- 
right Ufe,  and  to  act  suitably  to  the  several  relations 
they  sustain,  and  they  hope  by  the  mercy  of  God  to 
get  to  heaven  at  last ;  but  this  is  not  striving  to  en- 
ter in  at  the  strait  gate,  as  we  are  commanded.  And 
we  are  commanded  also  to  seek  the  Lord,  not  to  ex- 
pect to  find  him  without  seeking  him,  or  while  we 
are  seeking  something  else.  Such  persons  do  cer- 
tain things,  hoping  at  the  same  time  to  be  saved,  but 
they  do  nothing  to  be  saved,  that  is,  with  salvation 
in  view  and  in  aim.  And  the  probability  is  that  they 
never  have  felt  any  anxiety  about  their  salvation  as 
a  specific  object.  Oh  !  my  hearers,  if  you  would  be 
saved,  you  must  be  sensible  that  you  are  lost ;  and 
under  the  pressure  of  that  feeling  you  must  seek  and 
strive  to  be  saved.  You  cannot  happen  in  at  the 
strait  gate.  No  one  ever  entered  it  by  chance.  You 
must  go  directly  up  to  it,  and  then  with  singleness  of 
object,  and  strength,  and  perseverance  of  effort,  strive 
to  enter  in. 

This  then  being  the  object  to  be  proposed,  and 
nothing  short  of  it  nor  any  thing  aside  from  it,  and 
to  be  distinctly  and  definitely  proposed  ;  the  next 
question  is,  what  are  we  to  do  to  attain  it  ?  What 
does  Christ  tell  us  to  do  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  ? 
Does  he  say,  roisJt  to  enter  in  ?  No  ;  yet  this  is  all 
that  some  persons  ever  do  ;  they  wish,  and  perhaps 


309 

with  some  sincerity  and  strength  of  desire  to  enter  ; 
but  the  way  to  heaven  is  not  so  entered.  Does  he 
say,  hope  to  enter  in  ?  No  ;  for  Christ  never  encour- 
aged a  hope,  for  which  there  was  not  some  reason- 
able foundation.  And  besides,  he  tells  us  in  this 
very  connexion  of  some,  who  would  most  confidently 
hope  and  expect  to  enter  in  ;  and  yet  be  totally  dis- 
appointed. Nevertheless  is  not  this  about  the  whole, 
that  some  ever  do  to  enter  in  ?  they  hope  to  enter  in, 
to  be  saved.  Ask  them  the  reason  of  the  hope  that 
is  in  them,  and  they  have  none  to  give,  or  they  give 
one  that  is  far  from  justifying  their  hope.  Now  a 
hope  without  any  foundation  to  rest  upon,  or  with  an 
insufficient  foundation  is  really  no  more  than  a  wish, 
and  ought  not  to  be  called  a  hope.  But  ao^ain,  does 
Christ  say,  wait  to  enter  in  ?  This  is  what,  accord- 
ing to  the  views  of  many,  he  ought  to  have  said,  for 
they  contend  it  is  all  they  can  do,  to  wait ;  which  is 
to  do  nothing.  And  they  reason  with  some  plausi- 
bility ;  they  ask,  "  What  can  we  do  ?  Can  we  change 
our  own  hearts,  raise  ourselves  from  spiritual  death, 
and  repent  of  ourselves  ?  Does  not  the  Saviour  him- 
self say,  no  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father 
draw  him?  Must  we  not  wait  then  ?"  And  these 
questions  are  asked  with  an  air  of  triumph,  as  if  in 
the  opinion  of  the  interrogator  the  victory  must  be 
yielded  to  him  without  a  struggle.  But  I  ask,  does 
Christ  recommend  us  to  wait  ?  If  he  does,  why 
then  certainly  we  must  wait,  but  if  he  does  not,  may 
we  infer  from  any  declaration  of  his,  that  we  ought 
to  wait?  May  we  infer  from  a  declaration  of  his, 
what  he  himself  does  not  infer  from  it?     If  he  has 


310 


taught  any  doctrine,  which  is  a  reason  why  we 
should  not  attempt  any  thing,  it  is  equally  a  reason 
why  he  should  not  command  us  to  attempt  any 
thing.  Yet  has  he  not  commanded  us  to  attempt 
something?  Has  he  not  said  to  men  unconverted 
and  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  "  Strive  to  enter  in 
at  the  strait  gate  ?"  And  shall  we  say  wait,  when  he 
says  strive,  and  plead  his  authority  for  saying  what 
we  do  ?  Did  the  Saviour  contradict  himself  when  on 
one  occasion  he  said,  "No  man  can  come  to  me," 
and  on  another,  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate," 
or  did  he  on  the  latter  occasion  forget,  what  he  had 
said  on  the  former?  And  is  it  necessary  for  us  to 
set  him  right  and  to  remind  him?  Suppose  the 
question,  which  is  so  confidently  put  to  us,  were  put 
to  Christ,  '-what  can  we  do?"  would  he  not  reply, 
"  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  ?"  And  shall 
we  give  out  or  you  adopt  a  different  answer  ?  No  ; 
Christ  does  not  say  "  wait."  Yet  what  multitudes 
have  long  been  waiting,  and  are  waiting  still ;  wait- 
ing, as  they  say,  God's  time  ;  as  if  they  on  their  part 
were  ready,  but  he  not  ready.  What  an  insult  to  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  this  ! 
Did  they  ever  inquire  what  God's  time  is  ?  Oh  !  if 
sinners  would  only  wait  God's  time,  who  would  not 
be  satisfied  ?  for  to  wait  God's  time  for  duty,  is  to  do 
it  immediately,  for  his  time  is  now ;  " Behold  now  is  the 
accepted  time,  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 
^'  God  no70  commandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent." 
But  to  show  the  insufficiency  of  the  reason 
that  is  given  for  waiting,  "  we  cannot  do  anything." 
This    is    true    in   an    important    sense  ;    but   not 


311 

in  every  sense,  not  in  the  sense  intended  by  the  apol- 
ogist. The  difficulty  after  all  is  a  disinclination, 
more  than  an  inability.  You  have  no  heart  to  en- 
gage in  this  work  ;  but  as  to  say  you  will  not  engage 
in  it  would  be  not  very  respectful  to  God,  and  not 
very  well  received  by  your  own  consciences,  you 
adopt  a  different  mode  of  expressing  yourselves. 
You  say,  you  cannot^  just  as  a  child  says,  "I  can't," 
when  he  means  "  I  wont."  And  it  is  remarkable 
how  early  children  learn  the  habit  of  using  cannot, 
for  will  not  ;  nor  are  they  very  forward,  as  they  grow 
up  to  maturity,  to  put  this  childish  thing  away,  along 
with  the  others.  But  suppose  that  you  cannot  do 
any  thing  to  promote  your  salvation,  does  that  ex- 
cuse you  from  attempting  what  Christ  commands 
you  to  attempt  ?  If  a  father  command  a  child  of  his 
to  do  what  is  manifestly  impossible,  he  may  well 
make  use  of  the  apology  that  he  cannot  do  it,  for,  in 
that  case,  he  who  gives  the  order,  is  unable  to  com- 
municate the  power  of  obeying  it.  But  it  is  alto- 
gether different,  when  it  is  a  divine  being  that  issues 
the  command,  for,  in  this  case,  the  same  who  gives 
the  order,  can  give  the  power  of  obedience.  If  a 
mere  man  had  said  to  him,  who  had  the  withered 
hand,  "stretch  it  out,"  he  might  have  replied,  "you 
mock  me,  I  cannot ;"  but  when  the  being  who  created 
him,  bade  him  to  do  that  thing,  it  was  obligatory  on 
him,  and  most  reasonable  that  lie  should  attempt  it. 
And  he  did  attempt  it  and  was  successful.  Let  it  be 
remembered  that  it  is  the  very  same  being,  who  says 
to  you,  "  Repent ;  strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate." 
Will  you  plead  that  you  cannot,  even  if  you  cannot, 


312  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

when  it  is  he  who  commands  ?  Cannot  you  do  all 
things,  through  Christ  strengthening  you  ?  Because 
you  cannot  climb  a  certain  steep  by  your  own  unaided 
efforts :  is  that  any  reason  why  you  should  not  reach 
up  your  hand  to  take  hold  of  his  who  occupies  the 
eminence,  and  who  extends  it  down  for  your  help  ? 
Is  it  unnecessary  that  you  should  reach  it  out,  be- 
cause there  is  a  power  above,  which  alone  can  help 
you  up,  when  it  is  only  by  your  taking  hold  of  him, 
that  he  will  help  you  ?  Are  your  strivings  unnecessa- 
ry, because  they  by  themselves  are  unavailing?  Is 
it  not  sometimes  important  to  try  to  do,  what  at  the 
same  time  we  know,  that  unaided  we  cannot  accom- 
plish ?  Have  we  any  reason  to  believe  that  we  shall 
be  saved,  while  we  remain  inactive  ?  Who  has  been 
saved  by  this  waiting?  AVhere  are  the  converts 
indolence  has  been  instrumental  in  making  ?  Has 
God'«  time  come  to  those  who  have  been  so  long 
waiting  for  it  ?  or  does  it  seem  likely  to  arrive  ?  Verily 
there  is  not,  there  never  was,  nor  can  there  ever  be 
devised  a  plan  more  unscriptural,  more  absurd, 
more  certainly  and  more  extensively  destructive, 
than  this  same  most  common  plan  of  waiting.  Wait- 
ing to  see  if  God  will  not  save  you  !  Why  do  you 
not  also  wait  to  see  if  he  will  not  feed,  and  clothe, 
and  cure,  and  enrich  you?  No;  Christ  does  not 
say  wait,  and  let  the  sinner  beware  how  he  waits, 
for  time  does  not  wait,  nor  does  death  wait,  nor  does 
judgment  linger,  nor  retribution.  If  they  would 
wait  for  you,  you  might  with  more  propriety  wait. 
But  what  does  Christ  say?  Pray  to  enter  in  at 
the  strait  gate  ?     No  ;  except  as  pray  ingis  included 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  313 

in  striving.  It  is  in  prayer  that  the  soul  makes  some 
of  its  mightiest  efforts.  Prayer  is,  therefore,  neces- 
sary to  striving  ;  but  it  is  not  the  whole  of  it.  You 
may  pray ;  and,  if  you  are  concerned  for  your  salva- 
tion, you  will  pray  ;  but  you  must  not  rest  in  that, 
any  more  than  you  may  rest  in  waiting.  Some 
wait  and  pray  ;  but  that  union  falls  far  short  of 
what  the  Saviour  commands.  "  iStrive,"  this  is  what 
he  says  ;  "  strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate."  Do 
something;  endeavor;  make  ^  efforts ;  exert  your- 
selves ;  contend ;  contend  earnestly,  strenuously, 
painfully.  Strive.  The  original  Greek  word  is 
very  expressive.  It  is  that  which  was  employed  to 
denote  the  painful  exertions  made  by  those  who 
engaged  in  the  celebrated  Grecian  games,  the  efforts 
of  the  prize-fighters.  It  is  the  primitive  of  our  word 
agonize^  yet  not  properly  translated  by  that,  because 
our  word  agonize  expresses  the  pain  attendant  on 
great  exertion,  rather  than  the  exertion  itself  Strive ; 
contend  with  painfulness  of  effort,  as  in  a  conflict  for 
a  prize,  as  those  who  entered  the  lists  for  a  corrupti- 
ble crown  ;  be  in  earnest,  as  they  were  ;  cast  away 
every  incumbrance,  as  they  did  ;  spare  no  effort ; 
forbear  no  act  of  self  denial.  This  do  to  enter  in  at 
the  strait  gate,  to  obtam  the  incorruptible  crown. 

My  dear  brethren,  let  me  ask  you  if  you  are  doing 
any  thing  like  this  ?  Are  you  making,  or  have  you 
ever  made  such  exertions  to  enter  in,  as  this  word 
expresses  ?  And  if  not,  what  then  ?  Have  you  en- 
tered, or  do  you  expect  to  enter  without  them? 
Are  they  not  necessary  ?  Would  Christ  have  com- 
manded us  to  make  them,  if  they  were  not  necessary? 

27 


314 


Does  he  command  us  to  strive  to  enter,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  certain  more  certain  ?  Is  it  a  work 
of  supererogation  to  strive  to  enter?  If  it  be  neces- 
sary, and  you  have  not  done  it,  nor  are  doing  it, 
what  then  ?    I  will  leave  you  to  make  the  inference. 

In  view  of  this  declaration  of  him  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake,  whose  word  stands  fast  forever, 
what  shall  we  think  of  his  prospects,  who  not  only 
is  not  striving,  but  is  not  doing  any  thing  to  enter  in 
at  the  strait  gate  ?     Is  he  likely  to  get  in  ? 

Again  ;  with  this  passage  before  us,  what  must  we 
think  of  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  ?  Christ 
teaches  us  that  striving  is  necessary  to  enter  in,  and 
he  speaks  of  many  who  shall  seek  to  enter  in,  but 
shall  not  be  able.  But,  according  to  the  universal- 
ist,  one  cannot  help  getting  in  ;  not  only  need  he 
not  strive  to  enter,  but  though  he  should  strive  to 
keep  out,  he  would  not.  He  has  not  to  force  his 
way  to  heaven,  but  heaven  is  forced  upon  him.  It 
is  a  very  comfortable  doctrine,  however,  to  those  who 
do  not  like  the  straitness  of  the  gate,  and  narrow- 
ness of  the  way  to  life  ;  and  yet  the  comfort  of  it 
does  not  last  long. 

But  while  this  passage  inculcates  the  necessity  of 
striving,  it  also  holds  out  encouragement  to  strive. 
Strive  to  enter  and  you  shall  succeed  in  entering. 
Your  efforts  shall  not  be  in  vain.  This  direction 
was  never  intended  to  mock  sinners,  as  if  it  were 
said,  "  Strive,  but  after  all  your  strivings,  you  may 
never  enter  in." 

There  is  a  caution  I  would  give  to  those  who  con- 
ceive that  they  are  striving  to  enter  in.     It  is  that 


315 

they  take  care,  that,  while  they  are  doing  some 
things  to  get  in,  they  be  not  doing  other  things,  cal- 
culated to  keep  them  out,  and  thus  defeat  their  own 
efforts.  This  is  frequently  the  case,  but  I  have  no 
time  now  to  illustrate  it. 

The  subject  is  now  before  you ;  and  what  will 
you  do  ?  Will  you  presume  that  you  have  entered 
in,  in  the  absence  of  all  scriptural  evidence  that 
you  have  ?  Or,  will  you  say  that  it  is  not  absolutely 
necessary  to  enter  at  this  gate  that  life  may  be  ob- 
tained without  it  ?  thus  staking  your  soul  on  the 
peradventure  that  Jesus  Christ  may  have  been  mista- 
ken. Or,  will  you  contend  that  you  are  not  a  lost 
creature  ?  Or,  whether  you  are  or  not,  will  you  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  you  will  give  yourself  no  con- 
cern about  your  salvation  ?  Or,  not  taking  any  of 
these  grounds,  but  admitting  the  necessity  of  enter- 
ing in  at  the  strait  gate,  will  you  linger  idly  about 
the  gate,  hoping  for  some  power  to  thrust  you  in? 
Will  you  wait  ?  How  can  you  ?  Will  you  not 
strive?  Will  you  not  exert  yourself,  commencing 
now,  and  throwing  your  whole  soul  into  your  ef- 
forts, and  persevering  unto  success  or  death  ?  Will 
you  not?  Dare  you  do  otherwise  ?  Dare  you  travel 
longer  in  the  broad  way  to  destruction?  See  what 
progress  you  have  made  towards  it.  It  is  the  cour- 
age of  madness  that  emboldens  you  to  go  on.  Stop 
at  this  step ;  strive  and  be  saved. 

What!  are  you  waiting  for  God?  How  know 
you  that  he  is  not  already  at  work  within  you,  and 
that  your  inaction  is  a  resistance  of  him?  Waiting 
for  God  !     Why,  he  has  been  waiting  for  you  these 


316  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

many  years  perhaps  !  Do  you  expect  that  the  pre- 
sence of  God  with  you,  and  his  influence  upon  you, 
will  be  manifested  before  you  begin  to  act  ? 

Would  you  not  strive  if  you  supposed  that  your 
salvation  depended  entirely  on  your  own  efforts  ? 
But  your  efforts  are  as  necessary  now  as  they  would 
be  in  that  case.  But  I  must  leave  it  to  Him  who  can, 
to  give  enforcement  and  efl^ect  to  this  exhortation. 


SERMON    XXIII 


Old  things  are  passed  away;  behold,  all  things  are   become  new. 
2.  Corinthians,  v.  17. 


This  may  be  considered  as  the  Apostle's  own 
commentary  on  his  previous  declaration,  ''  he  is  a 
new  creature."  The  words  of  the  text  are  an  expan- 
sion and  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  what  pre- 
cedes them.     I  observe, 

1.  That  the  change  which  grace  makes  in  the 
human  character  is  a  visible  change.  It  is  to  be  seen 
by  the  eye,  for  we  are  invited  to  look  at  it ;  "  behold 
all  things  are  become  new."  It  is  visible,  not  merely 
visible,  but  truly  so  ;  there  is  a  visible  change,  be- 
cause there  is  an  invisible  one  ;  a  change  without,  the 
expression  and  effect  of  a  change  within  ;  an  altera- 
tion of  life,  consequent  upon  an  alteration  of  heart. 
It  frnist  be  visible,  if  all  things  become  new,  for  a 
part  of  these  things  are  external,  and  the  renovation 
as  it  respects  them  is  necessarily  obvious  to  the  senses. 
The  visibility  of  which  I  speak,  will  appear  both  to 
ourselves  and  to  others.  The  alteration  that  grace 
is  supposed  to  have  made  in  our  character,  we  must 
ourselves  discern.  And  if  a  man  entertains  a  hope 
that  the  change  has  taken  place  in  him,  and  yet  is  not 
able  to  perceive  that  he  is  in  any  wise  different  from 
27* 


318  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

what  he  was  ere  he  entertained  the  hope,  that  man 
ought  rather  to  fear  than  hope.  It  must  appear  also 
to  others.  It  behooves  us  so  to  hve  and  conduct  our- 
selves that  men  shall  take  knowledge  of  us  that  we 
have  been  with  Jesus.  We  must  pass  for  Christians 
in  the  world.  We  must  seem  to  be  religious  as  well 
as  be  so  actually.  How  otherwise  can  we  be  the 
hghts  of  the  world  ?  Are  we  not  commanded  to  let 
our  light  shine  before  men,  and  is  not  a  most  import- 
ant and  benevolent  object  to  be  accomplished  thereby, 
that  they  seeing  pur  good  works  may  glorify  our 
heavenly  Father?  Must  we  not  show  our  faith  by 
our  works  ?  And  are  we  not  directed  to  abstain  from 
all  appearance  of  evil?  Hear  what  Peter  says, 
"  Havintr  your  conversation  honest  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, that  whereas  they  speak  against  you  as  evil 
doers,  (for  the  best  men  are  liable  to  be  spoken  against ; 
our  Saviour  and  his  Apostles  were,)  they  may,  by 
your  good  works,  which  they  shall  behold,  (what ! 
be  silenced  and  put  to  shame  ?  Ah,  much  more 
than  that)  glorify  God  in  the  day  of  visitation." 
You  cannot  live  so  as  at  all  times  to  avoid  calum- 
ny, but  you  can  live  so  as  to  give  the  lie  to  the 
calumny,  and  perhaps  so  as  even  to  convert  the 
calumniator.  Yes,  we  must  pass  for  Christians,  we 
may  not  live  in  such  a  manner,  that  men  shall  lift  up 
their  hands  in  expression  of  astonishment,  when  it  is 
announced  to  them  that  we  profess  to  be  Christians. 
''  What !  tliey  Christians,  followers  of  Christ,  posses- 
sors of  the  Spirit  of  the  Son  of  God,  like  him,  I  should 
not  have  thought  it !  is  it  possible  ?"  Brethren,  are 
any  of  us  so  living  that  those  who  see  us  are  sur- 


319 

prised  when  they  are  informed  that  we  are  profes- 
sors of  religion  and  guests  at  the  Lord's  table — and 
these  not  our  personal  enemies,  and  not  a  few,  but 
many,  and  they  not  at  all  disposed  to  think  ill  of  us? 
It  ought  not  so  to  be.  Is  it  so  ?  Let  us  enquire. 
Let  us  honestly  tell  each  other,  whether  it  be  so  ;  and 
if  such  be  the  case  of  any  of  us,  it  requires  attending 
to,  and  that  forthwith ;  for  there  is  no  life  tliat  any  man 
leads  that  is  more  dishonorable  to  the  Son  of  God, 
and  more  injurious  to  religion,  than  such  a  life.  I 
know  we  sometimes  say  of  one  who  leads  not  upon 
the  whole  a  good  life,  that  he  may  have  a  good  heart 
notwithstanding,  but  how  can  the  heart  be  good,  if 
the  life  is  not,  when  oat  of  the  heart  are  the  issues 
of  the  life?  A  man's  life  is  good,  just  in  proportion 
as  his  heart  is  good.  As  the  stream  cannot  rise 
higher,  neither  will  it  fall  lower  than  the  fountain. 
He  is  not  pious  internally,  who  is  not  so  externally ; 
he  has  not  a^kind  heart,  who  does  not  do  kind  acts  ; 
and  he  is  not  honest  in  disposition,  who  is  not  in 
dealing.  It  is  an  absurd  apology,  to  make  for  our- 
selves or  for  another.  It  is  true,  the  life  of  the  best 
man  is  imperfectly  good.  But  why  ?  because  his 
heart  is  but  imperfectly  good.  The  holiness  of  his 
life  is  in  proportion  to  the  sanctification  of  his  heart. 
2.  The  change  of  which  we  speak  is  an  admirable 
change,  ^^  behold  all  things  are  become  new."  It  is 
a  change  not  to  be  contemplated  merely,  but  to  be 
contemplated  with  high-raised  emotions.  The  in- 
terjection is  thrown  in  not  barely  to  attract  atten- 
tion, but  to  excite  wonder  and  admiration.  Its  use 
is  the  same  as  in  another  place  '•  behold,  what  man- 


320 


ner  of  love"  &.c.  It  is  admirable,  if  we  consider  its 
author.  It  is  God.  "All  things  new  and  all  things 
are  of  God."  We  are  his  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works.  Every  work  of  God 
is  admirable.  What  a  noble  piece  of  work  is  man, 
even  in  his  ruins  !  how  much  more  then  in  his 
restoration  !  The  Christian  is  the  highest  style  of 
man.  He  is  the  result  of  a  new  creation  ;  and  if  at 
the  first  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy,  neither  are  they  mute 
at  this,  the  second,  for  angels  rejoice  whenever  a 
sinner  repents.  Have  they  rejoiced  on  your  account, 
hearer  ?  Has  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty  created  thee 
anew  ? 

But,  again,  the  change  is  admirable  if  we  con- 
sider the  loving-kindness  displayed  in  making  it. 
"  Behold,  what  manner  of  love"  is  here  !  It  was  love 
that  gave  the  first  impulse  to  creation.  And  man  came 
forth  from  his  Maker's  hand,  the  work  of  love,  and 
love  sustains  holy  beings  in  their  purity  and  dig- 
nity. But  the  love  that  redeems  the  lost  and  raises 
the  fallen  is  of  another,  a  peculiar  kind.  It  is  pity- 
ing, condescending,  sacrificing  love ;  love  in  every 
sense  unmerited ;  love  exercised  where  wrath  was 
deserved ;  and  though  injured  and  abused,  yet 
patient  and  meek.  Again,  it  is  worthy  of  being  ad- 
mired in  view  of  its  nature  and  connexions.  It  is 
di  singular  change,  infinitely  superior  to  any  other  of 
which  the  human  character  is  susceptible;  no  other 
change  is  Z?7<-e  it  except  in  some  external  features. 
Even  in  its  outward  show,  and  to  the  eye  of  super- 
ficially seeing  man,  k  can  be  counterfeited,  but  very 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  321 

imperfectly  and  for  a  while.  What  is  the  breakiii<^ 
oif  of  one  bad  habit,  to  the  renovation  of  all  the 
deeply  seated  habitudes  of  the  soul?  What  the 
amendment  of  the  life  in  this  and  that  respect,  an 
amendment  suggested  by  selfish  considerations  and 
made  without  any  regard  to  God,  to  the  rectification 
of  the  heart  in  all  respects  ?  ^What  comparison 
can  be  instituted  between  the  reformation  which 
sinners  sometimes  make  in  their  moral  conduct, 
and  that  repentance  which  breaks  the  heart  in 
ingenuous  sorrow  even  for  its  own  unseen  sins? 
Other  changes  are  necessarily  superficial ;  this  is 
deep  and  radical.  It  goes  to  the  bottom.  It  inserts 
a  new  main-spring.  What  evils  other  changes  re- 
strain or  abate,  this  eradicates  ;  and  this  commu- 
nicates the  reality  of  the  good,  of  which  they  do  but 
put  on  this  appearance.  Those  are  concerned  about 
men's  acts,  this  regulates  the  principle  of  action  ; 
they  repress  anger,  this  implants  meekness.  The 
sin  which  those  changes  may  enable  a  man  .to  avoid, 
this  inclines  him  to  hate.  After  all  other  changes, 
still  self  is  idolized  ;  but  this  enthrones  God.  It  is 
indeed  an  admirable  change.  When  every  thing  else 
has  been  done  to  the  human  character  to  amend  and 
adorn  it,  that  can  be  done,  still  it  is  essentially  defec- 
tive.  All  those  changes  leave  it  unlike  God,  alien 
from  him,  unapproved  by  him,  and  unfit  for  heaven. 
But  the  change  that  is  wrought  by  the  spirit  of  grace, 
assimilates  man  to  God,  restores  him  to  the  divine 
family,  commends  him  to  the  divine  favor,  and 
prepares  him  for  the  divine  abode.  Wherever  this 
chano-e  has  been  wrought,  and  the  character  it  pro 


322 


daces  exists,  there  sin  is  forgiven,  justification  has 
taken  place,  and  sanctification  is  in  progress.  Over 
it  angels  have  rejoiced  ;  around  it  they  encamp ; 
they  minister  to  it.  Man  may  frown,  but  God  smiles 
upon  it ;  earth  may  cast  it  out,  but  heaven  stands 
open  to  receive  it.  It  is  an  admirable  change  ;  and, 
3.  It  is  a  thorough  change.  It  has  respect  to  the 
whole  man.  It  does  not  affect  him  in  a  few  particu- 
lars only,  but  in  all.  "All  things  are  become  new." 
There  may  be  a  partial  reformation,  while  the  heart 
remains  unchanged  ;  but  if  the  heart  is  changed,  the 
reformation  must  be  universal.  A  fountain  of  sweet 
waters,  sending  forth  many  streams,  doth  not  and 
cannot  communicate  the  quality  of  sweetness  to 
some,  and  of  bitterness  to  others.  If  the  principles 
of  action  in  a  man  he  revolutionized,  there  is  the 
same  reason  why  all  his  conduct  should  be  changed, 
as  any  part  of  it.  If,  in  the  productions  of  nature, 
there  are  monsters,  yet,  in  those  of  grace,  there  are 
none.  Where  one  trait  of  the  Christian  character 
is  found,  there  they  are  all  found.  Where  faith 
is,  there  is  love,  for  faith  worketh  by  love  ;  and 
where  these  are,  in  inseparable  society  is  found 
the  whole  sisterhood  of  graces,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  meekness,  temper- 
ance. And  so  the  heart  that  hates  one  sin,  hates 
all ;  and  is  equally  disposed  to  renounce  all.  It 
is  impossible  that  a  man  should  be  a  believer,  and 
not  a  penitent;  or  penitent,  and  yet  not  obedient; 
or  obedient  in  one  respect,  and  not  in  another.  A 
man  cannot  be  meek,  and  yet  haughty  ;  nor  can  he 
be  humble,  and  yet  selfish  and  unkind  :  nor  can  he 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  323 

have  the  benevolence  of  a  Christian  without  havino- 
also  his  spirituaUty.  These  qualities,  though  difler- 
ent,  are  kindred.  Whenever,  then,  there  is  a  real 
and  radical  change  in  a  man,  there  is  a  universal 
change  in  him.  But  is  this  truth  regarded  as  it 
should  be  ?  Would  not  many  a  professing  Chrislian 
resign  his  hope,  if,  in  his  self-examinations,  he  re- 
garded it?  Do  we  not  often  hear  it  sarcastically 
said  of  a  person  professing  godliness,  "Well,  he  may 
be  a  Christian  ;  but  he  does  not  look  much  like  one, 
he  does  not  talk  much  like  one,  he  does  not  act  alto- 
gether like  one.  He  may  be  a  Christian,  but  he  has 
a  most  ungovernable  tono^ue,  or  a  terrible  temper  ; 
he  may  be  a  Christian,  but  he  is  not  a  very  grave 
one,  not  a  very  temperate  one ;  he  may  have  piety, 
but  I  am  sure  he  has  not  got  honesty  ;  he  may  ren- 
der to  God  the  things  that  are  God's,  but  he  does  not 
do  as  well  by  his  fellow  creatures.  A  Christian  he 
may  be,  but  he  is  a  very  mean  and  niggardly  or>e  ; 
a  prodigiously  cross  and  churlish  one.  A  Christian  ? 
"Why,  he  is  a  very  tyrant  in  his  household  !  A 
Christian  ?  Why,  he  is  as  fond  of  the  world  as  any 
of  us,  and  as  closely  conformed  to  the  world  as  any  of 
us  !  A  Christian  ?  Well,  then,  I  am  a  Christian  ;  we 
are  all  Christians  !"  This  is  a  serious  matter.  There 
is  often  too  much  truth  in  these  sarcasms.  There 
are  persons  professing  to  be  Christians,  and  appear- 
ing in  some  respects  to  be  Christians,  while,  in  other 
respects,  they  appear  quite  unchristian.  Grace 
seems  to  have  been  at  work  on  some  parts  of  their 
character,  but  on  other  parts  of  it  there  is  seen  no 
sign  of  its  operation.     They  are  better  men  as  it  re- 


324 

gards  some  things  ;  but,  with  regard  to  others,  there 
is  no  improvement.  What  shall  we  say  of  such  ? 
Are  they  Christians  ?  No  ;  if  they  were,  there 
would  be  an  improvement  as  it  regards  every  thing. 
There  is  a  passage  of  Scripture  which  decides  this 
question  for  us  :  "If  any  man  among  you  seem  to  be 
religious,  and  bridleth  not  his  tongue,  this  man's  re- 
ligion is  vain  ;"  that  is,  if  a  man  be  ostensibly  pious 
in  every  other  respect,  yet  if  he  bridle  not  his  tongue, 
(and  the  same  may  be  said  of  many  other  things, 
if  he  indulge  a  morose  or  malevolent  temper,  or  if  he 
give  the  rein  to  any  one  lust.)  all  those  appearances 
of  piety  must  pass  for  nothing,  the  man's  religion  is 
vain.  Grace  is  not  partial  in  its  operations,  though 
it  is  progressive  in  them.  It  does  not  immediately 
make  its  subject  perfect  in  any  respect,  but  it  makes 
him  better  in  every  respect.  Therefore  if  any  of  you 
find  that  your  religion  is  not  universally  influential, 
you  may  conclude  that  it  is  vain. 

4.  I  remark  that  this  change  is  of  the  nature  of  a 
substitution,  and  not  a  superaddition.  There  is  a 
passing  away  of  the  old  things,  and  a  coming  in 
their  place  of  new.  The  new  man  is  not  put  on 
over  the  old  man,  but  the  old  man  is  first  put  off. 
The  soul  becomes  dead  unto  sin,  before  it  is  made 
alive  unto  riofhteousness.  Relio^ion  is  eclectic,  not 
cumulative.  There  are  many  things  that  must  be 
thrown  out  of  the  character,  as  well  as  many  that 
must  be  taken  into  it.  When  a  man  becomes  a 
Christian,  there  is  as  much  subtracted  from  him^  as 
is  added  to  him  ;  as  many  old  things  left  undone,  as 
new  ones  done  :  a  giving  up,  as  well  as  a  receiving, 


325 

a  loss  as  well  as  a  |2fain.  Nevertheless  this  truth 
seems  not  to  be  regarded  by  many.  They  s^o  upon 
the  supposition  that  religion  is  a  super-addition  sim- 
ply ;  they  take  some  new  things  to  themselves,  but  the 
old  ones  do  not  pass  away.  They  think  to  Hve 
soberly,  righteously  and  godly,  without  first  denying 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts.  Self-denial  forms 
no  part  of  their  religion.  It  all  consists  in  doing. 
They  receive  baptism,  they  partake  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  they  are  more  frequent  at  their  prayers  and 
more  attentive  to  their  religious  duties  generally,  and 
this  is  all  very  well  in  its  place,  but  a  man  does  not 
become  a  Christian  by  this  accumulation  merely. 
Yet  is  not  this  all  the  Christianity  of  some  ?  They 
are  more  constantly  at  the  church  than  they  were 
once,  but  they  are  also  occasionally  at  the  play. 
They  will  go  to  the  prayer-meeting,  but  they  cannot 
give  up  the  ball  room  notwithstanding.  They  fast 
one  day,  but  they  feast  the  next,  and  the  excess  of 
the  second  day  more  than  counterbalances  the  absti- 
nence of  the  first.  They  use  the  name  of  God  in 
earnest  more  frequently  than  they  used  to  do,  but 
they  have  not  given  up  using  it  in  jest  also.  Why, 
my  hearers,  there  are  those  who  both  pray  and 
swear  ;  there  are  those  who  grind  the  poor  with  one 
hand,  and  give  to  the  poor  with  the  other.  The  reli- 
gion of  those  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking  is  much 
like  that  of  Herod  ;  he  did  many  things  in  conse- 
quence of  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  but  he 
would  not  give  up  his  brother  Philip's  wife.  It  is 
like  that  of  the  motly  race  which  the  king  of  Assyria 
planted  in   Samaria  after  the  carrying  away  of  the 

28 


326 


ten  tribes.  It  is  said  of  them  ''  they  feared  the  Lord^ 
and  served  their  own  gods."  It  is  a  very  easy  and 
agreeable  kind  of  rehgion.  I  do  not  know  who 
would  not  adopt  it,  if  he  thought  he  might  get  to 
heaven  thereby — who  could  have  any  objection  to 
serve  God,  if  with  the  same  heart  he  might  serve 
mammon.  Let  a  man  hold  the  world  in  one  hand, 
and  he  will  let  you  put  what  you  please  in  the  other. 
Let  a  man  only  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  indul- 
ging his  lusts,  and  there  is  nothing  he  will  not  do  to 
save  his  soul.  The  difficulty  of  Christianity  lies  in 
the  self-denial  and  sacrifices  it  requires  ;  there's  the 
rub.  It  is  a  religion  of  self-denial.  Paganism  is  not. 
Mohammedism  is  not ;  and  there  are  corruptions  of 
Christianity  which  are  not.  No  other  religion,  but 
the  religion  of  the  Bible  is ;  hence  its  unpopularity, 
and  the  popularity  of  the  others.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  those  religions  have  made  such  progress  in  the 
world,  and  taken  such  a  hold  of  men,  they  are  agree- 
able to  depraved  nature ;  the  wonder  is  that  pure 
Christianity  has  made  any  progress  in  the  world  ; 
and  but  for  the  power  of  God  it  would  have  made 
none.  And,  by  the  way,  there  may  hence  be  derived 
an  irrefragable  argument  for  the  truth  of  Christianity. 
It  is  true,  because  it  is  unpopular  ;  because  it  is  a  re- 
ligion of  self-denial.  It  is  true,  because  while  other 
religions  indulge  the  depraved  propensities  of  men, 
this  condemns  and  corrects  them.  It  is  a  religion 
which  imposition  never  would  or  could  have  origi- 
nated. Its  aim  and  effort  being  to  make  men  holy, 
its  source  must  be  holy. 

5.  It  is  a  great  change.     It  is  hardly  necessary 


327 


to  affirm  this,  after  what  has  been  already  said  in 
illustration  of  its  magnitude.  It  is  a  work  of  God  ; 
a  new  creation  ;  Christians  are  his  workmanship. 
It  is  called  a  passing  from  death  unto  life,  a  being 
born  again,  a  translation  out  of  darkness  into  mar- 
vellous light,  a  resurrection.  Let  this  suffice  now 
for  proving  it  a  great  change. 

Finally^  Itis  a/?erma7?-e?i/change.  It  lasts.  The 
old  things  once  passed  away,  never  come  back  again. 
The  new  creature  continues  a  new  creature  ;  his  pro- 
gress is  habitually  forward ;  his  path  is  as  the  shi- 
ning light.  Once  raised  from  being  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,  he  never  relapses  again  into  that  state  of 
death.  God  destroys  not  the  works  of  his  new 
creation.  He  annihilates  neither  in  grace  nor  in  na- 
ture. The  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  re- 
pentance. We  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through 
faith  unto  salvation.  They  went  out  from  us,  but 
they  were  not  of  us.  Much  more  then,  being  recon- 
eiled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life,  if,  when  enemies, 
we  were  reconciled  by  his  death.  God  takes  back 
no  pardon  ;  Christ  casts  out  no  one  that  has  once 
come  to  him.  Angels  never  are  called  to  sorrow 
over  the  apostacy  of  one,  for  whose  repentance  they 
have  once  rejoiced.  But  do  you  believe  in  the  dan- 
gerous doctrine  of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints  ? 
Yes.  Well  then,  says  one,  I  am  safe  and  I  will  give 
myself  no  more  concern  about  it,  for  I  am  sure  I  was 
once  in  grace."  But  not  so  fast.  Your  conduct 
proves  that  you  are  not  a  Christian  now  ;  then,  as  we 
hold  to  the  perseverance  of  Christians,  it  is  clear  that 
you  never  was  a  Christian,  for  you  have  not  perse- 


328  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

vered.  You  cannot  possibly  have  as  much  proof 
that  you  were  once  aChristian,  as  you  have  that  you 
are  not  now  one.  Therefore  there  is  no  dano^er  in 
the  doctrine,  if  it  be  understood.  We  do  not  beheve 
in  the  permanency  of  spurious  conversions,  in  the 
perseverance  of  hypocrites  and  self-deceived  persons. 
It  is  the  perseverance  of  the  saints  that  we  hold  to. 
Or  rather  their  conservation  by  the  gracious  power 
of  God. 

In  review  of  this  subject,  ask  yourselves  a  few 
questions. 

1.  Am  I  visibly  a  Christian  ?  Am  I  reputed  pious? 
Am  I  regarded  by  the  church  and  by  the  world  as  a 
consistent  professor  of  godliness?  Do  I  seem  to  be 
religious  ?  Do  my  good  works  and  my  holy  con- 
versation give  occasion,  and  offer  inducements,  to 
others  to  glorify  God  ? 

2.  Am  I  a  Christian  throughout  ?  Do  I  hate,  and 
renounce,  and  avoid  all  sin  ?  Do  I  possess  all  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit?  Have  I  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  towards  both  God  and  man  ?  Am  I  a  Chris- 
tian in  my  discourse,  in  my  temper,  in  my  desires  ? 
A  Christian  every  day  and  in  all  places  ;  (not  an  oc- 
casional or  local  Christian  merely  ;)  in  the  family,  as 
well  as  in  the  closet ;  in  the  office  and  in  the  count- 
ing-house, as  well  as  in  the  church  ? 

3.  Have  the  old  things  passed  away  in  my  case  ? 
Have  I  denied  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and 
died  unto  sin  ?  Is  my  religion  a  religion  of  self- 
denial  ?     Do  I  serve  mammon  as  well  as  God  ? 

4.  Am  I  a  Christian  now  ?  Have  I  present  evi- 
dence of  it  ?     Or,  am  I  relying  on  past  experience  ? 


329 


Am  I  calculating  on  going  to  heaven,  because  a  long 
time  ago  I  had  certain  convictions  and  feelings, 
which  I  thought  were  those  of  a  Christian  ?  Ask 
yourselves  such  questions,  and  you  will  make  a 
proper  use  of  this  discourse. 

Perhaps  some  of  you  may  think  that  I  make  too 
much  of  this  change,  and  too  much  ado  about  re- 
ligion generally  ;  that  I  am  over  strict  in  my  repre- 
sentation of  things.  This  doctrine  of  conversion  and 
a  change  of  heart,  perhaps  you  have  been  wont  to 
regard  as  mere  methodism. 

I  wish  then  you  would  examine  the  Scriptures  on 
this  subject.  Possibly  I  ma]^  be  right  after  all ;  and 
if  I  should  be,  then  what  becomes  of  you  ?  if  I 
should  be,  do  I  say  ?  I  am  right.  Ye  must  be  born 
again.  What  can  be  more  plain  ?  what  more  posi- 
tive than  that  ?  And  why  marvel  ye  ?  Is  it  not 
manifest  that  you  require  such  a  change  ?  It  is  not 
arbitrarily  appointed  of  God  that  this  change  should 
take  place  ;  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  it  should. 
You  cannot  go  to  heaven  as  you  are.  You  cannot 
enjoy  a  holy  God,  while  you  are  yourselves  not 
holy.  Yet  when  we  speak  on  the  subject,  you  hear, 
you  wonder.  I  hope  you  do  not  despise,  and  I  pray 
you  may  not  perish. 


28* 


SERMON    XXIV 


Ye  did  run  well  ;  who  did   hinder  you,  that  ye  should  not  obey 
the  truth  ? — Galatians  v.  7. 


It  is  not  saying  enough  of  the  Bible  to  say  that  its 
contents  are  truth.  They  are  the  truth  ;  as  this  is 
emphatically  the  book,  as  the  word  Bible  signifies. 
All  other  truth  is  insignificant  in  comparison  with 
that  revealed  here.  This  truth  relates  to  the  high 
matters  of  God  and  the  soul,  accountability,  redemp- 
tion, and  immortality.  And  this  is  the  truth  which 
makes  men  free,  and  sanctifieth  them. 

Our  first  duty,  in  regard  to  the  truth,  is  to  believe 
it.  But  this  is  not  the  whole,  nor  yet  the  principal 
part  of  our  duty  in  regard  to  it.  It  is  to  no  purpose 
that  it  is  believed,  if  that  be  all.  Indeed  it  had  bet- 
ter not  be  believed,  if  it  is  only  believed.  The  belief 
of  the  truth  is  valuable  only  as  preparatory  to  some- 
thing else.  That  other  thing  which  is  due  to  the 
truth,  is  obedience.  "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy 
are  ye  if  ye  do  them."  "  Be  ye  doers  of  the  word, 
and  not  hearers  only." 

There  is  truth  which  requires  only  to  be  believed. 
It  neither  reveals  nor  creates  obligation.  It  is  purely 
speculative.  It  neither  does  nor  should  it  afiect  the 
heart,  or  influence  the  conduct  of  him  who  believes 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  331 

it.  But  the  truth  of  the  Bible  is  not  of  this  nature. 
It  is  not  merely  speculative,  but  experimental  and 
practical.  It  requires  something  to  he  felt  and  done. 
There  are  emotions  of  heart,  and  a  manner  of  life, 
which  are  appropriate  to  it.     It  must  be  obeyed. 

To  obey  the  truth,  is  to  feel  and  act  agreeably  to 
it.  It  implies  such  a  state  of  the  heart,  and  such  a 
conformation  of  conduct  as  comports  with  the  na- 
ture of  the  things  revealed  and  believed.  As,  for 
example,  the  truth  relates  in  part  to  the  character  of 
God,  which  it  represents  to  be  infinitely  excellent 
and  amiable.  To  obey  that  truth,  is  to  admire  and 
love  the  divine  character,  for  those  are  the  feelings 
appropriate  to  it.  Is  it  the  greatness  of  God  that  is 
the  object  of  contemplation  ?  The  duty  is  venera- 
tion. Is  it  his  sovereignty  ?  The  duty  is  submis- 
sion. Is  it  his  law?  The  duty  is  compliance  with 
all  its  requisitions.  Does  the  truth  relate  to  the  sub- 
ject of  sin  ?  Then  the  duty  is  repentance.  Does  it 
relate  to  the  Saviour  ?  The  duty  is  faith  and  trust 
in  him.  We  may  learn  hence  the  high  importance, 
yea,  necessity  of  apprehending  and  believing  the 
truth.  It  cannot  otherwise  be  obeyed.  Obedience 
to  truth  not  known  or  not  credited  is  impossible. 

We  may  learn  also  the  insignificance  and  worth- 
lessness  of  mere  faith  and  knowledge.  To  believe 
there  is  a  God  and  not  love  him  ;  to  have  a  know- 
ledge of  Christ,  without  trust  in  him,  or  of  sin  with- 
out repenting  of  it,  what  is  that  worth  7 

The  obedience  of  the  truth,  is  religion.  There 
can  be  no  better  definition  of  it,  unless  it  be  one  which 
we  find  in  Scriptures  :  viz.,  this  "  faith  that  workcth 


333 


by  love."  There  is  no  other  religion  worth  any  thing, 
or  availing  aught,  but  that  which  answers  to  this 
description.  The  obedience  of  error  is  not  religion, 
nor  is  the  belief  of  truth  religion.  Sincerity  is  not 
religion,  nor  is  orthodoxy,  but  the  obedience  of  the 
truth.  Religion  is  neither  cold  light  nor  latent  heat, 
but  a  flame  that  enlightens  while  it  warms.  Truth  is 
the  light  of  religion,  and  love  is  its  fire.  Some  have  the 
light  without  the  fire  ;  they  hold  the  truth  in  unrigh- 
teousness ;  their  knowledge  is  unaccompanied  with 
love.  Some  have  the  fire  without  the  light ;  a  zeal 
of  God,  but  not  according  to  knowledge.  Some  have 
neither.    The  union  of  the  two  constitutes  a  Christian. 

To  obey  the  truth,  is  not  any  thing  that  can  be 
done  at  once,  or  that  requires  to  be  done  only  at 
stated  periods.  Religion  is  not  a  job,  which  being 
done,  there  is  an  end  of  it ;  not  a  mere  arrears  to  be 
paid  up  ;  or  a  mere  score  to  be  wiped  off.  The  ob- 
ligation is  not  cancelled  when  it  is  discharged.  It 
exists  still,  and  covers  the  whole  of  life.  It  is  not  a 
mere  Sabbath  occupation,  but  the  business  of  every 
day.  Each  successive  moment  renews  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  moments  that  went  before.  The  Chris- 
tian has  never  done  his  work,  but  is  always  doing 
it.  The  Christian  life,  as  you  know,  is  frequently 
compared  to  a  race.  To  obey  the  truth,  is  to  run 
well  in  this  race.  The  Galatians  had  ceased  to  run 
well,  because  they  had  ceased  to  obey  the  truth. 

The  truth  must  be  perseveringly  obeyed.  The 
Bible  makes  no  account  of  past  experience  and  past 
good  conduct,  unless  it  be  sustained  by  a  correspond- 
ing present  experience  and   conduct.      "When   a 


333 


righteous  man  tunieth  away  from  his  righteousness 
and  committeth  iniquity,  all  his  righteousness  that 
he  hath  done  shall  not  be  mentioned ;  for  his  iniquity 
that  he  hath  done  shall  he  die."  All  the  promises 
of  God  are  made  to  perseverance  in  obeying  the 
truth  ;  "  to  them  who  by  patient  continuance  in 
well-doing,  seek  for  honor  and  immortality;  to  him 
that  overcometh  ;  to  him  that  is  faithful  unto  death. 
He  that  endureth  to  the  end,  shall  be  saved  ;  we 
shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not."  It  is  to  no  purpose  to 
begin  well,  nor  for  a  time  to  go  on  well.  The  thing 
is  to  end  well.  That  is  well  that  ends  well.  It  is  of 
no  use  to  lay  hold,  except  we  hold  on.  There  is 
fickleness  and  folly  in  setting  out,  and  not  going 
through.    Yet  this  is  what  many  do. 

There  is  such  a  thing  (would  there  were  not)  as 
declension  in  religion.  The  Galatians  declined. 
Paul  heard  of  it,  and  wrote  to  them  on  the  subject. 
This  epistle  is  what  he  wrote  to  them  ;  and  he 
expresses  his  surprise,  his  regret,  his  mortification 
that  it  should  be  so  with  them.  "I  marvel,"  he 
says,  "  that  ye  are  so  soon  removed  from  him  that 
called  you  into  the  grace  of  Christ.  How  after  that 
ye  have  known  God,  or  rather  known  of  God,  how 
turn  ye  again  to  the  weak  and  beggarly  elements  .^ 
I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  I  have  bestowed  on  you  la- 
bor in  vain.  Where  is  the  blessedness  ye  spake  of? 
I  stand  in  doubt  of  you.  Ye  did  run  well.  Who 
did  hinder  you  ?  This  persuasion  cometli  not  of 
him  that  calleth  you."  He  was  oppressed  and 
grieved  when  he  reflected  on  their  course.  How 
melancholy  it  is  that  men  should  turn  away  from 


334  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

God,  that  they  should  grow  worse,  as  they  get  nearer 
the  grave  and  the  judgment !  that  they  should  be 
becoming  less  fit  for  heaven,  as  they  approach  its 
confines,  less  diligent  as  their  working  time  approxi- 
mates its  termination  !  It  is  particularly  painful  to 
ministers  to  discover  indications  of  declension  in 
those  to  whom  they  had  hoped  that  they  had  been 
instrumental  of  spiritual  benefit. 

And  now  may  I  not  say  to  some  here,  ye  did  run 
well ;  not  ye  do^  but  ye  did^  implying  that  ye  do  not 
now  ;  that  your  running  well  is  something  fast. 
Yes.  I  may.  Ye  did  run  well.  Now  let  not  the  en- 
quiry be  "  who  does  he  mean  ;"  but  "  is  it  I  ?"  Do  not 
look  around^  but  within.  Look  just  where  God  is 
looking,  on  your  own  heart.  If  I  mean  any  persons 
more  than  others,  it  is  those  who  hear  for  others, 
rather  than  for  themselves.  If  they  ever  did  run 
well,  they  do  not  now. 

Sometimes  there  exists  a  real  declension  without 
any  very  marked  external  indications  of  it.  We  read 
of  such  a  character  as  the  backslider  in  heart.  The 
person  still  walks  apparently  in  the  ways  of  God, 
but  his  heart  has  departed  from  the  living  God.  He 
has  lost  his  first  love.  All  is  dark  and  cold  within  him. 
He  does  not  take  the  same  interest  in  divine  things 
that  once  he  did.  He  is  sensible  of  a  strange  indif- 
ference in  his  soul,  to  what  once  supremely  interested 
him.  He  still  reads  the  word  of  God  but  it  is 
tame  and  tiresome  in  comparison  with  what  once 
it  was.  He  who  seeth  in  secret  seeth  him  not  so 
often  and  fondly  resorting  to  the  place  of  retirement ; 
and  when  there  his  intercourse  with  his  God,  is  as  if 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  335 

some  coolness  existed  between  them.  Now  this  may  be 
the  case  with  many  of  you.  If  we  see  no  indications 
of  declension  in  you,  yet  he  who  sees  not  as  man  sees 
may.  In  some  of  you,  however,  even  we  do  see  them. 
There  is  a  vi^ii/e  diminution  of  interest  in  the  things 
of  religion.  The  sanctuary  and  the  place  where 
prayer  is  wont  to  be  made  are  not  so  regularly  attend- 
ed by  you.  Some  who  once  were  uniformly  here  in 
the  afternoon,  now  never  are.  What  more  profitable 
mode  of  employing  the  Sabbath  afternoon  they  have 
fallen  upon,  I  do  not  know.  Some  who  once  could 
give  one  evening  in  the  week  to  the  worship  of  God, 
cannot  now.  I  do  not  know  why,  whether  it  be  that 
they  have  paid  off  their  dues  to  God,  or  that  He  has 
done  something  to  offend  them,  or  what.  Some  did 
never  like  a  prayer-meeting,  though  so  much  is  said 
in  commendation  of  them  in  the  Bible,  and  there  be 
the  example  of  men  of  whom  the  world  was  not  wor- 
thy, in  their  favor.  Some  did  seem  to  like  them 
once,  but  have  lost  the  relish  ;  whether  it  be  that  they 
wish  to  spend  all  that  time  in  secret  prayer,  or  that 
they  have  got  from  God,  all  that  they  care  to  have,  I 
pretend  not  to  decide.  Some  were  wont  in  time  past 
to  attend  with  us  on  the  quarterly  sacramental  sab- 
bath, but  now  no  more.  The  services  are  too  long. 
I  have  half  a  mind  to  ask  you  a  question  ;  if  two 
hours  and  a  half  here  weary  you,  and  are  intolerable, 
how  will  you  get  along,  shall  I  say  with  an  eternity 
in  hell,  or  an  immortality  in  heaven?  It  matters  not 
much  which.  It  is  foremost  among  the  most  extra- 
ordinary absurdities  I  have  ever  heard  of,  that  per- 
sons who  are  in  this  habit,  should  expect  to  be  saved 


336  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

through  the  broken  body,  and  shed  blood  of  Christ. 
But  there  are  also  those  who  once  used  actually  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  table,  who  now  come  no  more. 
Perhaps  it  is  from  consciousness  of  a  want  of  prepa- 
ration for  the  ordinance.  That  is  the  only  tolerable 
reason  that  can  be  assigned  for  it.  How  it  is  in  re- 
gard to  family  religion  I  do  not  know,  for  I  employ 
no  spies.  In  how  many  families  the  worship  of  God 
is  maintained,  whether  in  any  it  was  once,  but  has 
been  discontinued,  whether  the  biblical  and  catechet- 
ical instruction  of  children  is  regularly  attended  to, 
whether  any  and  what  regard  is  had  to  the  vows  and 
promises  made  in  baptism,  I  know  not,  except  that 
when  I  assemble  the  children,  not  all  of  them  are 
forth-coming.  And  how  the  Sabbath  is  observed  in 
your  families,  I  know  not.  I  only  know  what  your 
duty  is  in  these  respects.  Some  individuals  in  this 
cono-regation  were  once  serious,  thoughtful  and  inqui- 
sitive on  the  subject  of  religion,  concerned  in  some 
degree  for  their  salvation.  Do  you  not  remember 
that  time,  when  you  were  sick  ;  when  you  lost  that 
relative  ;  when  you  heard  that  sermon  ;  when  you 
were  present  at  that  sacrament ;  how  tender  and  in- 
terested you  were,  and  you  betook  yourself  to  the 
Bible,  and  to  prayer  ;  and  you  virtually  asked  what 
you  should  do  to  inherit  eternal  life ;  but  now  you 
have  taken  up  other  questions  "  who  will  show  me 
any  good ;  what  shall  I  eat ;  what  drink  ;  what  put 
on  ?  Now  you  are  very  well  satisfied  with  your  con- 
dition. You  have  concluded  to  dispense  with  reli- 
gion, at  least  for  the  present.  We  had  hopes  of  you 
then,  but  they  are  dashed ;  and  you  have  gone  off 


337 

farther  than  ever  from  the  kingdom  of  God.     You 
have  accomphshed  what  you  undertook,  to  s^rieve 
away  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  now  you  have  no  trouble 
and  no  uneasiness.     I  cannot  say  that  you  did  run 
well,  with  perfect  propriet^^,  for  you  never  actually 
started  on  the  Christian  race,  but  you  seemed  about 
to  do  it.     It  appeared  as  if  you  intended  to  begin  to 
obey  the  truth.     But    ....   something  hindered. 
As  that  which  impedes  Christians  in  running  the 
race  set  before  them,  and  that  which  hinders  sinners 
from  engaging  in  it  is  substantially  the  same,  I  shall 
not  distinguish  in  speaking  of  them.     If  you  did  run 
well,  and  now  no  more  do,  there  is  a  cause.     So  if 
you  have  never  begun  to  run,  there  is  a  cause  ;  and 
in  each  case  it  is  the  same.  The  Apostle  does  not  say 
what  it  is,  but  asks  "  who  did  hinder  you  ?"     He  was 
sure  that  something  had  ;  he  knew  that  he  had  not ; 
'•  this  persuasion  cometh  not  of  him  that  calleth  you." 
He  asks  then  ''who  did?"    What  person,  what  thing? 
And  I  ask  you,  professor  of  religion,  what  it  was  that 
hindered  you.     What  first  drew  you  away  ;  how  did 
this  declension  commence ;  and  where  did  it  com- 
mence, and  how  did  it  first  manifest  itself  What  sin 
did  you  fall  into,  what  duty  omit,  what  was  it  that 
you  suffered  yourself  to  become  inordinately  attach- 
ed to?     And  you  who  dost  neither  profess  nor  pos- 
sess religion,  I  ask  you  what  hindered  you  from  be- 
coming a  penitent   disciple  of  Christ,  at   that  time 
to  which  I  have  alluded  ?     You  were  almost  persua- 
ded to  become  a  Christian,  but  then  some  considera- 
tion presented  itself  that  caused  you  to  hesitate  and 
finally  prevailed  to  dissuade  you.  You  thought,  "well, 

29 


338 


now  if  I  become  a  Christian/'  and  what  did  you 
think  ?  Was  it  not  something  of  this  sort  ?  "  if  I  be- 
come a  Christian,  and  a  thorough-going  and  consis- 
tent Christian,  (and  1  never  will  be  any  other,)  what 
will  be  said,  how  will  my  family  and  friends  like  it, 
will  it  not  grieve  and  disappoint  them?  Will  they 
not  oppose  me  ?  Will  not  some  ridicule  me  ?  and  how 
can  I  bear  that  7  Then  I  cannot  go  any  more  to  the 
theatre  and  the  ball  room.  I  must  give  up  all  such 
places  of  resort  as  those.  I  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon  both.  I  must  be  one  thing  or  the  other. 
I  can  see  how  it  will  interfere  with  my  comfort  in 
many  respects,  and  I  fear  it  will  affect  my  respecta- 
bility, and  my  worldly  prospects  too  ;  what  shall  I  do?" 
It  is  hard  to  say  the  precise  consideration,  whose 
weight  turns  the  scale  against  religion,  in  the  case  of 
a  particular  individual.  The  train  of  reflection 
which  goes  before  the  decision,  is  in  no  two  minds 
exactly  the  same.  With  some  there  seems  to  be  but 
a  single  obstacle.  Others  having  surmounted  one, 
find  another  and  yet  another  to  be  surmounted. 
That  which  is  a  difficulty  with  one,  is  no  difficulty 
with  another.  Here  is  one  person  who  can  cheer- 
fully give  up  for  Christ,  every  thing  but  that  one 
thing.  There  is  another  who  can  with  all  ease 
sacrifice  that  thing,  but  there  is  another  which 
he  finds  it  impossible  to  give  up. 

Each  of  you  has  his  hindrance  ;  a  sin  that  doth 
more  easily  tlian  any  other  beset  him.  You  know, 
or  you  can  easily  discover  what  it  is.  It  is  that 
which  keeps  you  away  from  Christ,  which  prevents 
your   reconciliation  to   God  ;    and  which  is  likely 


forever  to  debar  you  from  heaven.  Look  at  it ;  do  not 
conceal  it  from  yourself;  do  not  apologize  for  it ;  do 
not  diminish  it  in  your  conception  of  it ;  do  not  say, 
"Is  it  not  a  little  one?"  and  expect  that  God  will 
spare  it  on  that  account.  But,  perhaps,  you  will  see 
every  thing  but  this  ,  and  you  will  wonder  what  it 
is  that  prevents  you  from  being  a  Christian.  That 
which  does  prevent  you,  the  adversary  of  souls  takes 
care  to  keep  out  of  view.  He  knows  how  to  accom- 
plish his  plans.  He  is  willing  that  you  should  obey 
Christ  in  every  respect  but  one.  He  does  not  care 
to  have  you  retain  more  than  one  sin.  He  has  no 
objection  to  your  being  devout  in  your  intercourse 
with  God,  provided  you  will  not  be  honest  in  your 
dealings  with  men.  And  you  may  be,  for  all  he 
cares,  as  honest  as  Aristides,  if  you  will  only  be  sat- 
isfied with  that.  You  may  profess  rehgion.  That 
does  not  oifend  him.  Indeed  ^^-ou  cannot  please  him 
better  than  to  profess  religion,  when  you  have  none. 
Yes,  profess  to  be  a  Christian,  and  live  like  a  world- 
ling, and  you  cannot  please  him  better.  He  prefers 
that  his  servants  should  wear  the  livery  of  Christ. 
They  can  do  more  for  him  in  that  dress  than  in  any 
other.  He  professes  religion  sometimes.  Do  we 
not  read  of  Satan's  transforming  himself  into  an 
angel  of  light  ?  And  it  is  supposed  he  did  so,  when 
he  went  to  do  his  darkest  deed,  the  destruction  of 
our  race.  He  never  opposes  a  soul  until  that  soul 
has  given  up,  or  is  about  giving  up  all  for  Christ. 
When  one  of  you  begins  to  think  about  repenting 
and  turning  from  all  your  sins  to  the  Lord,  then  he 
begins  to  interfere  and  oppose.     Why  should  he  l)c- 


340  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

fore  ?     Your  partial  amendments  he  will  never  find 
any  fault  with. 

Although,  as  I  have  said,  the  hindrance  in  every 
case  is  not  precisely  the  same,  yet  there  is  a  passage 
of  Scripture  which  is  applicable  to  every  case.  "  A 
deceived  heart  hath  turned  him  aside."  Whenever 
one  either  totally  or  partially  departs  from  the  living 
God,  it  is  because  of  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief  that  is 
in  him.  And  there  is  another  passage  which  applies 
perhaps  to  every  case  of  defection.  "  Demas  hath 
forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  present  world."  That 
phrase,  the  "world,"  is  a  very  comprehensive  one. 
It  includes  every  thing  which  may  be  preferred  to 
God.  It  includes  persons  and  things.  It  compre- 
hends profit,  pleasure,  and  honor  ;  your  business, 
your  profession,  your  family.  One  loves  the  world 
in  this  aspect  of  it,  another  in  that.  In  what  shape 
or  phase  of  it,  it  drew  tiway  and  destroyed  Demas,  I 
do  not  know.  By  what  one  of  its  many  chains  it 
binds  you,  I  cannot  tell ;  perhaps  by  one  of  such 
delicate  materials,  and  so  finely  drawn,  that  it  is 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  perceptible.  Nevertheless,  it  holds 
you  fast,  and  keeps  you  as  really  from  the  Saviour  as 
any  other.  The  world  !  Now  be  honest,  and  say 
if  it  is  not  the  love  of  this  that  has  drawn  you  off 
from  God  ;  this,  that  now  stands  in  the  way  of  your 
being  a  Christian  ;  this,  for  which  you  give  up  Christ 
and  resign  the  hope  of  heaven  and  barter  your  soul  1 
What  a  bargain  !  The  fading  vanities  of  time  pur- 
chased with  the  substantial  glories  of  eternity !  a  mere 
creature  preferred  to  the  Creator  of  all  things !  What 
a  choice  !     The  service,  the  sweet  service  of  Christ 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  341 

resigned  for  the  sake  of  the  privilege  and  pleasure  of 
sinning !  Heaven  lost,  for  the  gain  of  an  unsatisfactory 
uncertainty!  The  expiring  breath  of  human  applause 
chosen  rather  than  the  approbation  of  God  !  Strange 
that  a  being  of  immortality  should  choose  to  have 
his  portion  in  this  life !  Poor  Demas  !  He  sees  his 
folly  now  ;  he  wishes  he  had  not  forsaken  Christ. 
He  had  the  world  he  loved,  perhaps  some  two  or 
three  years ;  and  he  has  been  separated  from  it  now 
these  seventeen  or  eighteen  centuries.  All  that  time 
he  might  have  been  with  Christ  in  heaven.  Ah  !  it 
was  a  sorry  speculation  for  him.  Yet  how  many 
in  every  ago  have  trodden  in  his  steps  ;  having  loved 
this  present  world,  have  either  forsaken  Christ,  or 
never  in  any  sense  gone  to  him.  The  Psalmist  takes 
notice  of  it.  "  This  their  way  is  their  folly,  yet  their 
posterity  approve  their  sayings,"  Ps.  xlix.  13,  14. 
"  Oh  !  Lord,  deUver  my  soul  from  men  of  the  world, 
which  have  their  portion  in  this  life.'* 

See,  backslider,  what  you  are  doing ;  forsaking  the 
fountain  of  living  waters  for  a  cistern  of  your  own 
hewing,  and  which  you  cannot  make  capable  of 
holding  anything;  a  very  sieve.  Take  care  that 
you  do  not  prove  an  apostate,  that  you  do  not  go 
too  far  ;  take  care,  lest,  at  the  next  step,  your  feet 
stumble  on  the  dark  mountains,  and  while  ye  look 
for  light,  he  turn  it  into  the  shadow  of  death,  and 
make  it  gross  darkness.  Know  now,  and  see,  before 
you  are  made  to  feel  it,  that  it  is  an  evil  thing  and 
bitter,  that  thou  hast  forsaken  the  Lord  thy  God. 
Return  unto  me,  says  God,  and  I  will  return  to  you. 
Return,  ye  backsliding  children,  and  I  will  heal 
29* 


342 


your  backslidings.  Respond  ye,  ''  Behold  we  come 
unto  thee,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  our  God."  "  O  Lord 
our  God,  other  lords  beside  thee  have  had  dominion 
over  us ;  but  by  thee  only  will  we  make  mention  of 
thy  name."     Isaiah  xxvi.  13. 

And  see,  oh  !  sinner,  what  thou  art  doing.  Refu- 
sing obedience  to  the  truth,  even  to  the  first  principle 
of  it,  repentance  from  dead  works,  and  declining  al- 
toofether  to  enter  the  arena  of  the  Christian  conflict : 
neglecting  the  great,  the  only  salvation  ;  persisting 
in  rebellion  against  your  divine  sovereign  ;  treating 
with  the  basest  ingratitude  the  best  of  benefactors  ; 
putting  in  peril  the  most  imminent,  your  soul ;  de- 
spising heaven  ;  daring  the  vengeance  of  the  Al- 
mighty. And  all  for  what  ?  To  avoid  a  slight  in- 
convenience, it  may  be  ;  to  preserve  some  passing 
pleasure  ;  to  please  some  dying  man. 
■  Oh !  do  not  strike  such  a  bargain  ;  do  not  make 
such  a  choice.  You  cannot  even  now  yourself  ap- 
prove of  it.  Do  not  for  any  consideration,  but  espe- 
cially for  such  a  consideration  lose  your  all,  and 
yourself  along  with  it,  and  for  ever.  No ;  rather 
for  the  pearl  of  great  price  sell  all.  Let  every  thing 
go  for  Christ ;  it  is  but  little ;  and  that  little  thou 
can'st  not  have  long.  And  with  him  thou  shalt 
have  all  things.  He  will  not  let  thee  lack,  as  he  will 
never  let  thee  perish.     Do  it ;  and  then  sing, 

"  Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken, 
All  to  leave  and  follow  thee." 


SERMON    XXV 


But  grow  in  grace. — 2  Peter  iii.  18. 


You  will  recollect  that  two  Sabbaths  ago  from  the 
text,  "  The  last  state  of  that  man  is  worse  than  the 
first,"  I  discoursed  to  you  on  the  progress  in  evil,  and 
attempted  to  show  how  and  under  what  circum- 
stances men  become  worse  and  the  human  cha- 
racter suifers  deterioration.  And,  by-the-way,  one 
that  heard  that  discourse  is  now  in  eternity,  and  he 
was  in  the  forenoon  of  life  too.  Take  heed  how  ye 
hear.  In  view  of  the  tremendous  uncertainty  of 
human  life,  what  manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be 
in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness  !  I  propose 
now  to  treat  of  the  ways  and  means  of  becoming  bet- 
ter. The  subject,  I  am  sure,  is  appropriate  to  all ; 
and  to  all  it  ought  to  be  interesting.  I  presume 
there  is  no  one  here,  who,  however  good  he  may  be 
in  his  own  opinion,  does  not  believe  that  he  may 
and  ought  to  be  better.  With  whatever  complacency 
he  may  contemplate  his  character,  yet  can  he  think 
that  it  is  not  susceptible  of  any  farther  improvement? 
If  any  are  satisfied  with  themselves,  (and  it  must  be 
said,  that  some  do  approach  but  too  near  to  this  state 
of  entire  self-approbation.)  I  pronounce  them  to  be 
the  persons  of  all  others,  who  should  be  most  dissat- 


344  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

isfied  with  themselves,  and  especially  should  they  be 
dissatisfied  with  themselves,  on  account  of  that  very 
self-satisfaction  ;  for  no  truly  good  man  was  ever 
satisfied  with  himself,  or  thought  himself  good 
enough.  The  best  men  who  have  ever  lived,  have 
been  most  dissatisfied  with  themselves.  They  who 
Iiave  approached  nearest  to  perfection,  have  been 
most  sensible  of  their  imperfection  ;  they  who  have 
had  in  themselves  the  best  ground  for  self-gratulation, 
have  been  most  forward  to  condemn  themselves ; 
the  men  who  have  made  most  procuress  in  goodness, 
have  ever  been  most  deeply  sensible  of  the  necessity 
of  pressing  on  and  making  greater  and  more  rapid 
progress.  Witness  Job,  "  Behold  I  am  vile  ;  I  abhor 
myself;"  and  Paul,  "Not  as  though  I  had  already 
attained,  either  was  already  perfect,  but  I  follow 
after,  if  that  I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  also 
I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus.  But,  I  count  not 
myself  to  have  apprehended,  but  this  .one  thing  I  do; 
forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  and  reaching 
forth  to  those  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the 
mark."  And  witness  the  comparisons  and  self- 
condemnations  of  the  most  eminently  holy  men  of 
every  age.  This  statement  may  seem  a  paradox, 
unless  some  explanation  is  given.  The  explanation 
is  briefly  this.  The  truly  good  man,  (I  mean  the  re- 
generate man.)  that  is  in  progress  to  the  perfection  of 
holiness,  has  more  acute  perceptions  of  moral  good 
and  evil  than  any  other  man  has.  His  standard, 
with  which  he  compares  himself,  is  diflerent,  far 
more  elevated.  He  sees  sin  often  where  other  men 
see  none  ;  and  in  all  sin,  he  sees  more  evil  and  hate- 


345 

fulness  than  others  take  notice  of;  he  hfis  regard  to 
the  motives  of  conduct ;  he  looks  at  the  state  of  the 
lieart ;  he  contemplates  himself  in  God.  Now,  no 
imperfect  man,  who  answers  to  this  description,  will 
ever  look  complacently  on  himself  They  that 
think  themselves  good  enough,  do  really  not  know 
what  goodness  is ;  and  even  to  their  low  and  most 
defective  standard,  they  bring  only  their  overt  acts. 
They  take  no  cognizance  of  the  state  of  the  inner 
man  ;  they  look  not  at  what  God  looks ;  they  are 
regardless  of  motives  in  estimating  character,  espe- 
cially their  own  character ;  and  they  think  and 
speak  of  themselves  almost  entirely  in  reference  to 
the  relations  which  they  sustain  to  their  fellow  crea- 
tures ;  they  practically  forget  the  first  and  grandest 
of  all  relations,  that  which  is  sustained  to  God  ;  they 
do  not,  like  Paul,  exercise  themselves  to  have  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  both  toward  God  and  toward 
man.  They  think  themselves  good  enough ;  but 
are  they  morally  like  God  ?  are  they  conformed  to 
the  image  of  his  Son  ?  do  they  love  God  with  all  the 
heart  and  their  neighbors  as  themselves?  are  they 
holy?  are  they  perfect?  are  they  fit  for  heaven? 
Ah !  they  never  ask  themselves  such  questions  as 
these.  Such,  if  any  such  be  present,  will  take  no 
interest  in  this  discussion.  Neither  will  they,  whose 
creed,  or  whose  unbchef  does  not  require  them  to  be 
any  better  than  they  are,  the  Antinomian,  who  ex- 
pects to  be  saved  by  a  dead  faith,  and  the  Univer- 
salist  who  counts  on  salvation  without  either  faith 
or  works  ;  nor  will  he  take  an  interest  in  this  discus- 
sion, who,  though  he  would  have  no  objection  to  be- 


346  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

come  better  by  some  spontaneous  growth  in  grace,  is 
yet  determined,  through  indolence  or  fear  of  man, 
not  to  use  the  means  and  make  the  sacrifices  which 
are  necessary  to  such  a  moral  improvement.  Least 
of  all,  will  he  be  interested,  who.  though  sensible  he 
is  bad  enough,  has  no  wish  to  be  any  better  ;  the 
sources  of  his  pleasures  being  connected  with  sin, 
and  the  accomplishment  of  his  avaricious  desires,  or 
ambitious  projects,  being  incompatible  with  goodness. 

We  have  selected  for  our  purpose  the  apostolical 
exhortation,  ^^Grow  in  grace.''''  Grace  means  favor. 
In  the  Scriptures  it  usually  denotes  the  favor  of  God, 
and  particularly  that  most  glorious  manifestation  of 
it  made  in  the  Gospel.  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved." 
It  is  also  by  a  very  common  figure,  used  to  signify 
its  various  effects,  as  "  my  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee." 
That  class  of  the  effects  of  the  divine  favor  referred 
to  in  the  text,  may  be  expressed  by  the  general  term 
holiness,  and  the  meaning  of  the  exhortation  will  be 
conveyed  by  substituting  this  word  for  grace ;  the 
propriety  of  which  will  be  still  more  manifest,  if  we 
consider  th*it  men  grow  in  favor  with  God  just  in 
proportion  as  they  grow  in  holiness.  Every  regene- 
rate person  is  under  grace  ;  that  is,  in  a  state  of  ac- 
ceptance with  God  ;  but  he  becomes  more  and  more 
an  object  of  the  divine  complacency,  as  he  becomes 
more  and  more  conformed  to  the  divine  image. 

"  Grow  in  grace."  It  is  something  that  we  are 
exhorted  to  do.  It  is  not  to  be  effected  without  some 
exertions  on  our  part.  The  growth  of  the  human 
soul  in  grace  is  not  spontaneous.  It  requires  the 
most  careful  culture.     No  man  ever  became  better 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  347 

without  making  that  his  object,  and  taking  pains  for 
it.  The  process  of  moral  deterioration  will  s:o  on 
in  the  soul,  while  it  is  neglected,  but  not  the  opposite 
process.  It  sinks  by  its  own  gravity.  To  raise  it, 
requires  the  application  of  a  positive  force.  We  are 
exhorted  to  give  all  diligence  in  adding  to  our  faith 
virtue,  (fee.  And  Paul  tells  us  that  he,  forffettino- 
the  things  behind  and  reaching  forth,  pressed 
towards  the  mark  ;  and  Ave  are  admonished  to  run 
with  patience  the  race  set  before  us,  laying  aside 
every  weight  and  looking  unto  Jesus.  And  the 
heart  we  are  commanded  to  keep  with  all  diligence, 
and  to  labor  for  the  enduring  meat.  Yet  this  prin- 
ciple, I  fear,  is  very  much  disregarded.  What  is 
more  common  among  men  than  a  total  neglect  of  the 
keeping  of  the  hetrt  and  the  cultivation  of  the  rnoral 
powers  ?  How  few  they  are  who  are  making  exer- 
tion and  giving  diligence  in  pursuance  of  a  purpose 
to  become  better.  What  multitudes  there  are,  who, 
in  the  multiplicity  of  the  inferior  objects  they  propose, 
never  propose  this  !  The  neglect  is  most  extraordi- 
nary and  alarming. 

1.  In  growing  better,  the  first  thing  is  to  become 
good ;  or  rather  this  is  preliminary  to  all  improve- 
ment. You  cannot  make  that  better  which  is  not 
good.  You  cannot  stimulate  and  strengthen  life, 
where  the  very  vital  principle  has  no  existence.  The 
foundation  must  be  laid  before  the  building  can  rise. 
No  digging  about  and  enriching,  no  ever  so  auspi- 
cious alternation  of  sun  and  shower  can  bring  for- 
ward a  plant,  which  has  no  life  in  it.  Yet  in  morals 
this   is  what   some  are   endeavouring  to  do  ;  they 


348 


v/ould  feed  death  and  cultivate  sterility.  They  desire, 
and,  to  some  extent,  exert  themselves  to  grow  better, 
before  they  have  become  good  ;  they  are  attempting 
to  rear  an  edifice  without  a  foundation.  They  pro- 
ceed as  if  the  principle  of  moral  excellence  were 
innate  in  them,  whereas  in  us,  that  is  in  our  flesh 
there  dwells  no  good  thing.  Now  the  way  to 
become  good  is  to  exercise  such  a  repentance,  (as  I 
briefly  described  last  Sabbaih,)  as  implies  a  spiri- 
tual regeneration.  Regeneration  is  the  commence- 
ment of  holiness  in  the  heart ;  before  regeneration 
there  is  in  the  heart  nothing  akin  to  holiness  ;  no 
seed  capable  of  producing  it,  no  principle  capable  of 
developing  it.  Until  a  man  be  born  again,  therefore, 
no  anxiety,  no  effort,  no  abstinence  can  make  any  es- 
sential improvement  in  his  character.  The  sinner 
must  pass  from  the  state  of  nature  to  that  of  grace,  be- 
fore he  can  grow  in  grace.  He  must  realize  that  of 
which  Paul  speaks,  (Rom.  v.  1,)  "  therefore  being- 
justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  also  we  have  access 
by  faith  into  this  grace,  wherein  we  stand."  See  to 
it  then  that  this  change  be  wrought  in  you,  the  foun- 
dation laid,  the  vital  principle  communicated. 

2.  Then  the  soul  being  born  again,  the  principle  of 
spiritual  life  being  communicated  to  it,  so  that  the 
man  is  no  longer  absolutely  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  it  must  have  nourishment  in  order  to  grow  ;  the 
principle  of  spiritual  life  is  not  independent  of  ali- 
ment, any  more  than  that  of  animal  life.  Now  truth 
is  the  nutriment  of  the  soul,  and  it  must  be  taken,  or 
the  soul  will  not  grow,  and  in  a  little  while  will  cease 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  349 

to  live.  They  say  it  is  no  matter  what  a  man  bcheves, 
or  whether  he  beUeves  anything,  so  he  but  practises 
aright,  which  is  as  if  one  would  say,  it  is  immaterial 
what  a  man  eats  or  whether  he  eat  at  all,  so  he  but 
lives.  Can  he  live  liriihout  eating,  and  eating  whole- 
some food  ?  If  error  is  not  injurious,  poison  is  not ; 
and  if  ignorance  is  not  hurtful,  starvation  is  harmless. 
The  man  who  is  indiiferent  to  the  interests  of  truth, 
is  also  to  those  of  virtue.  It  is  impossible  to  love  the 
one,  without  loving  the  other.  Truth  is  the  princi- 
ple and  pabulum  of  virtue.  Yet,  is  he  not,  in  many 
circles,  regarded  a  bigot  who  contends  earnestly  for 
what  he  believes  to  be  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints?  He  is  no  more  a  bigot  than  the  medical  man 
who  by  his  pen  and  tongue  contends  for  a  wholesome 
diet.  What  is  truth  ?  Pilate  asked  that  question  at 
the  right  source.  Grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesns 
Christ.  This  is  truth  ;  he  says,  "  sanctify  them 
through  thy  truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth."  Himself  is 
truth  ;  he  also  says  "  I  am  the  way  and  the  truths 
The  word  of  God  must  be  understood,  believed  and 
meditated  on,  and  especially  its  testimony  concerning 
Christ,  otherwise  there  can  be  no  growth  in  grace. 
Peter  exhorts  "as  new  born  babes,  desire  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby  ;"  and 
Christ  says  "  I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down 
from  heaven ;  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall 
live  forever  :  and  the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh, 
which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world."  I  believe 
that  one  principal  reason  why  Christians  make  such 
slow  and  interrupted  progress  in  religion,  is  that  they 
have  such  loose  and  indistinct  views  of  the  Gospel  sys- 

30 


350 


tem,and  that  they  meditate  on  the  Gospel  and  the  Sa- 
viour so  infrequently,  and  with  so  httle  concentration 
of  thought.  The  truth  has  not  the  opportunity  of  pro- 
ducing its  sanctifying  effect,  as  the  instrument  of  the 
Spirit.  If  you  would  grow  in  grace,  if  you  would  make 
progress  in  holiness,  not  only  read  the  Bible,  but  un- 
derstand it.  Do  you  say  '^  how  can  I,  except  some  one 
guide  me  /  The  Spirit  is  ori  ven  to  guide  you  into  all  the 
truth.  Not  only  hear  the  Gospel,  but  receive  it  into 
the  head  and  the  heart ;  ponder  upon  it  and  apply  it ; 
and  become  acquainted  with  Christ  as  revealed,  in 
his  person  and  offices  ;  and  love  to  contemplate  him 
as  the  atoning  sacrifice  for  sin  in  his  death:  for  he 
says  •*  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and 
drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you."  In  regard 
to  doctrine,  be  ye  careful  to  separate  the  precious  from 
the  vile.     So  shall  ye  live  and  thrive. 

3.  The  exercise  of  the  moral  powers  and  gracious 
dispositions  in  you  is  essentially  necessary  to  their 
growth  and  expansion.  How  can  one  grow  in  bene- 
volence, or  in  compassion  unless  he  obeys  its  dic- 
tates ?-  in  temperance  unless  he  habitually  practises 
temperance  7  or  in  meekness,  except  he  be  in  the  habit 
of  forgiving?  how  increase  in  humility  unless  he  fre- 
quently humble  himself  ]  and  in  patience  and  forti- 
tude, if  he  does  not  exercise  these  virtues?  and  as  they 
cannot  be  exercised  vv'ithout  trials  and  afflictions, 
hence  the  necessity  of  these  to  the  growth  of  those 
virtues  and  the  perfection  of  the  human  character. 
Paul  understanding  this  matter  says  to  the  Hebrews, 
"he  for  our  profit  (chastens  us)  that  we  might  be  par- 
takers of  his  holiness  :"  and  to  the  Romans,  ••  we  glory 


NEVINS    SERMONS.  351 

in  tribulation  also,  knowing  that  tribulation  work- 
eth  patience."  If  then  you  would  grow  in  grace,  see  to 
it  that  you  regularly  exercise  gracious  dispositions, 
and  be  willing  that  God  should  exercise  them  when 
and  how  he  will.  And  I  may  as  well  take  this  op- 
portunity of  cautioning  you  to  beware  how  you  exer- 
cise and  indulge  the  opposite  dispositions,  if  you 
would  not  give  strength  to  them.  You  cannot  get 
rid  of  an  unhappy  temper  by  the  daily  indulgence  of 
it.  No  evil  disposition  ever  yet  spent  itself  by  exer- 
cise. The  more  you  give  way  to  irritability,  fretful- 
ness,  impatience,  censoriousness  and  the  like,  the 
more  they  ^ain  strength. 

4.  According  to  the  doctrine  inculcated  on  the  last 
Sabbath,  God  is  the  author,  upholder,  and  finisher  of 
good  in  us.  No  use  of  means,  and  no  making  of  exer- 
tion are  of  any  avail  without  his  secret,  spiritual  effi- 
ciency ;  hence  a  spirit  of  dependance  on  God  must 
be  cultivated  and  exercised,  and  hence  is  jtrayer  an 
indispensable  means  of  growth  in  grace.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  promised  only  to  them  who  ask  him.  Prayer, 
(which  is,  be  it  remembered,  always  generated  in  the 
heart,  and  is  its  sincere  and  prevailing  desire,  inspi- 
red into  a  prepared  form,  or  breathed  into  the  words 
of  him  that  leads  in  social  devotion,  or  expressing 
itself  in  spontaneous  language,  or  spending  itself  in 
groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered,  yet  are  intelligible 
to  Him  who  knoweth  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,)  prayer, 
I  say,  which  has  not  unaptly  been  styled  the  breath 
of  the  spiritual  life  in  man,  if  any  man  would  grow 
in  grace,  he  must  abound  in  prayer.  He  must  not 
only  pray,  but  he  mifst  pray  in  the  manner  prescri- 


352 


bed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Every  thing  depends  on 
the  manner  of  praying.  We  have  all  had  proof 
enough  in  our  own  experience,  that  the  mere  expres- 
sion of  desire  is  not  effectual.  There  is  iX  faith  that 
is  indispensable  in  prayer,  and  a  cordial  hatred  of  sin, 
without  which  the  Lord  will  not  hear,  and  a  uniform 
doing  of  the  will  of  God,  giving  the  soul  a  confidence 
towards  him.  And  the  name  of  Christ  must  be  the 
medium  and  plea,  and  there  is  an  importunity  and 
perseverance  in  prayer  which  are  very  frequently 
and  strongly  inculcated  in  the  word  of  God.  Bear 
in  mind,  then,  that  prayer  is  the  means  of  obtaining 
the  Spirit,  without  which  there  can  be  neither  growth 
nor  establishment  in  o^race. 

5.  Watchfulness  is  another  important  means  of 
growth  in  grace.  Watch  and  j)ray  is  one  of  Christ's 
directions  to  his  disciples  ;  be  sober,  be  vigilant, 
walk  circumspectly.  The  plant  of  grace  requires 
the  most  anxious  attention  and  the  most  constant 
care.  There  is  no  plant  that  is  reared  with  so  much 
difficulty.  It  has  many  enemies ;  some  that  grub 
the  earth,  and  some  that  infest  the  air  ;  and  it  is  ex- 
posed to  many  evil  influences.  It  must  be  assidu- 
ously watched.  The  heart  must  be  kept,  as  we  are 
commanded,  with  all  diligence.  Nothing  is  so  prone 
to  wander  from  the  right  objects,  as  our  thoughts 
and  our  affections.  How  frequently  the  Christian 
falls  into  sin,  through  mere  inadvertence.  He  re- 
laxes his  vigilance,  and  presently  he  finds  himself 
thinking  evil,  and  sometimes  speaking  and  doing  it ; 
he  is  surprised  often  to  discover  how  far,  without 
knowing  it,  he  has  gone  in  th^  indulgence  of  an  evil 


353 

temper,  and  in  the  expression  of  unchristian  feehng, 
and  what  a  distance  he  has  gone  from  God,  the  httle 
time  he  has  been  off  his  guard,  and  what  advantage 
temptation  has  gotten  over  him  in  the  mean  time.  I 
believe  there  is  nothing  that  interferes  so  seriously 
with  the  exemplariness  of  Christians  before  men,  as 
this  want  of  watchfulness.  There  are  certainly  few, 
if  any  more  formidable  hindrances  to  growth  in  grace 
than  mere  inadvertence,  and  the  defect  of  vigilance. 

6.  Christians  are  members  of  a  mystical  body  of 
which  Christ  is  the  head,  and  from  him,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  connexion,  they  derive  strength, 
grace,  nourishment,  and  every  needed  good.  Now 
faith  is  the  bond  of  this  union,  and  the  stronger  the 
faith,  the  closer  the  bond,  and  the  more  free  the  com- 
munication. Hence,  if  one  would  grow  in  grace,  he 
must  habitually  exercise  faith  in  Christ,  and  increase 
in  faith.  He  should  be  able  to  say  with  Paul,  "I  am 
crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless,  I  live,  and  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  ;  and  the  life  which  I 
now  live,  1  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God." 

7.  Striving  against  sin  is  all-important  to  growth 
in  grace  or  holiness.  Why  is  not  the  Christian  per- 
fect ?  Because  sin  remains  in  him.  It  is  not  domi- 
nant in  him,  else  he  would  not  be  a  Christian  ;  but 
it  is  extant  in  him,  active  and  ambitious,  ever  strug- 
gling to  acquire  its  lost  ascendancy,  and  frequently 
flushed  with  partial  successes.  It  must  be  resisted 
positively,  and  strenuously.  It  must  not  only  not 
be  indulged,  but  active  measures  must  be  taken  to 
keep  it  down  and  cast  it  out.  One  is  naturally  of 
an  avaricious  disposition.     Now,  what  is  the  change 

30» 


354 

when  his  soul  is  renewed  ?  Has  he  never  another 
avaricious  desire  ?  He  has  many  ;  but  he  does  not 
suffer  them  to  prevail ;  he  will  not  gratify  them  ; 
he  positively  opposes  them  ;  that  is  the  change  that 
has  taken  place.  The  same  train  of  remark  may  be 
made  of  other  evil  dispositions.  Pride  is  not  in- 
dulged but  mortified,  as  all  the  affections  and  lusts 
of  the  flesh. 

Conversion  does  not  put  a  man  out  of  the  reach 
of  temptation.  There  is  yet  something  left  in  the 
soul,  which  is  disposed  to  Hsten  to  it  and  yield  to  it. 
Now  the  first  rule  is,  fly  temptation,  if  you  can  with 
propriety,  (a  rule  that  regulates  very  few ;  for  many 
think  it  cowardly,  and  others  are  presumptuously 
confident  in  their  strength  to  resist  it.)  If  it  cannot 
be  evaded,  then  the  second  rule  is,  face  it  and  resist 
it,  depending  on  invisible  and  almighty  grace. 

The  Apostle  in  Hebrews  speaks  of  the  sin  that 
doth  most  easily  beset  us  ;  or,  as  it  might  more  liter- 
ally be  rendered,  the  iveU-circumstanced  sin.  And 
it  is  a  matter  of  experience  with  us  all,  that  there 
are  sins  into  which  we  more  readily  fall  than  into 
others,  and  that  some  species  of  temptation  make  a 
more  effectual  appeal  to  us  than  others  do.  Let  spe- 
cial attention  be  directed  to  these,  and  peculiar  de- 
fences reared  up  against  them. 

8.  Sensual  indulgence  is  a  formidable  foe  to 
growth  in  ^race  ;  and,  when  carried  far,  is  incom- 
patible with  its  existence.  Hence  the  necessity  of  ab- 
stinence and  self-denial,  without  which,  in  some  mea- 
sure, piety  can  have  no  existence,  and,  without  the 
practice  of  which,  in  a  very  considerable  degree,  emi- 


355 

nence  in  piety,  we  believe,  was  never  attained.  ''  If  any 
man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself.  Mor- 
tify, therefore,  your  members  which  are  on  the  earth." 
There  is  a  kind  of  evil  that  goes  not  out  but  by  fast- 
ing and  prayer.  The  lover  of  pleasure  cannot  be  a 
lover  of  God.  The  man  who  makes  the  multiplica- 
tion of  agreeable  sensations  his  chief  study,  how 
dwelleth  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  him  ! 

9.  The  love  of  the  world  is  another  enemy  to  ho- 
liness. "Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things 
therein.  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  not  in  him."  There  is  a  wonderful  moral 
efficiency  in  the  cross  of  Christ  to  destroy  this  inor- 
dinate affection.  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory 
save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  which 
the  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world." 

10.  Finally,  the  promises  exert  a  sanctifying  inlhi- 
ence,  when  contemplated  and  applied.  Peter  writes, 
'••  Whereby  are  given  unto  us  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises,  that  by  these  ye  might  be  parta- 
kers of  the  divine  nature." 

I  might  multiply  particulars;  but  I  have  said 
enough  for  this  once.  Ijct  me  recapitulate  ;  first^ 
repent  and  be  converted  ;  become  good.  Then, 
feed  the  soul  with  its  appropriate  food  ;  exercise 
gracious  dispositions ;  pray;  watch;  believe;  strive 
ao-ainst  sin  ;  fly  or  resist  temptation ;  ascertain  and. 
combat  more  strenuously  the  besetting  sin  ;  deny 
thyself;  gaze  on  the  cross;  contemplate  the  promi- 
ses ;  and  thus  grow  in  grace. 

1  intended  to  discourse  at  some  length  on  the  mo- 
tives which  should  induce  us  to  employ  these  means 


35G 

of  growing  in  grace  ;  but  I  can  only  mention  thenij 
reserving  it  to  some  future  occasion  to  enlarge  upon 
them.     They  are  these. 

The  fact  that  you  have  as  yet  made  such  small 
attainments  in  religion  ;  your  obvious  and  most 
alarming  inferiority  to  the  saints  of  the  Old  and  New- 
Testaments. 

The  necessity  of  making  progress  in  grace  as  an 
evidence  of  the  reality  of  grace  in  you. 

The  auspicious  influence  which  an  increase  of 
personal  holiness  would  have  in  promoting  your 
comfort  and  happiness,  and  in  increasing  your  use- 
fulness also. 

The  fact  that  the  reward  of  glory  hereafter  will  be 
in  proportion  to  the  measure  of  grace  here. 

The  accomplishment  of  the  grand  design  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  which  was  that  he  might  redeem  his 
people  from  all  iniquity,  and  save  them  from  their  sins. 

The  glory  of  God,  for  herein  is  he  glorified,  that 
ye  bear  much  fruit. 

Your  conscious  unfitness,  even  in  your  regenerate 
state,  to  meet  God,  and  to  pass  into  the  society  of 
heaven. 

The  shortness  of  time  and  the  uncertainty  of  life, 
earth  being  the  place  appointed,  and  life  the  time 
for  making  this  improvement. 

Each  of  these  considerations  has  great  weight ; 
together,  they  bear  down  all  the  considerations  that 
can  be  urged  in  favor  of  any  other  course.  Chris- 
tians I  commend  them  to  your  remembrance  and 
meditation  :  and  I  charge  you  "  grow  in  grace  ;" 
follow  holiness  ;  cultivate  the  soul.     Let  us  go  on  to 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  357 

perfection.  As  he  that  has  called  us  is  holy,  so  be 
ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation.  Be  ye  perfect, 
as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.  Awake  to 
righteousness  and  sin  not. 

Now,  with  one  argumeiTt,  a  fortiori  it  is  called 
technically,  we  conclude. 

If  there  be  so  much  reason  why  they  who  are 
good  should  become  better,  how  much  more  that 
they  who  are,  in  the  Gospel  sense,  evil,  should  become 
good  evangelically  ?  Nay,  more,  that  they  who  are 
continually  becoming  worse  and  worse,  (as  it  was 
shown  in  the  discourse  already  referred  to,  that  all 
unregenerate  persons  are,)  should  immediately  arrest 
themselves  and  make  no  more  progress  in  evil,  but 
turn  and  take  an  opposite  course.  By  this  time, 
should  you  not  have  begun  to  be  holy?  should  you 
not  at  least  have  repented  ?  should  you  not  have 
turned  your  attention  to  the  subject  of  religion  ? 
It  is  high  time,  believe  me.  Believe  me,  your  cha- 
racter requires  immediate  attention  ;  your  soul  is 
suffering  seriously, /ajfaZ/y  for  want  of  it.  You  are 
neo-lectinor  the  most  momentous  concerns ;  you  are 
hazarding  the  most  important  interests  ;  you  are  run- 
ning the  risk  of  losing  yourselves  forever.  It  is  time 
to  awake,  and  inquire  and  exert  yourselves.  Awake 
thou  that  sleepest.  Woe  to  you  that  are  at  ease  in 
Zion.  Know  ye  not  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force  ? 
Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate.  Except  ye  re- 
pent, ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. 

May  God  bless  his  word  to  your  good  and  his 
own  glory.     Amen. 


SERMON    XXVI. 


Wherefore  'hast  thou  made  all  men  in  vain  ? — Psalm  Ixixix.  47. 

The  latter  part  of  this  psalm  is  of  a  deeply  tragic 
cast.  After  reviewing  the  promises  of  the  covenant, 
which  God  had  made  with  David  and  his  house,  and 
his  former  merciful  dealings  with  them,  the  writer 
refers  in  a  very  pathetic  manner  to  the  present 
afflicted  state  of  the  kingdom  and  the  royal  family, 
with  earnest  prayers  and  expostulations  to  God  on 
account  of  it.  He  finds  it  difficult  to  reconcile  the 
providences  of  God  with  his  covenanted  promises, 
and  his  known  perfections.  "  Lord  where  are  thy 
former  loving  kindnesses  which  thou  swearest  unto 
David  in  thy  truth?"  And,  in  the  same  desponding 
state  of  mind,  he  asks  not  merely  in  reference  to 
Israel,  but  in  view  of  the  afflicted  and  mortal  condi- 
tion of  all  mankind,  "  Wherefore  hast  thou  made 
all  men  in  vain  ?"  There  may  appear  to  you  to  be  a 
great  deal  of  boldness  and  not  a  little  impiety  disco- 
vered in  this  interrogation  of  the  Psalmist,  in  which 
he  charges  God  with  having  made  this  race  in  vain, 
and  calls  upon  him  to  give  his  reasons  for  having 
done  so.  But  the  writer  meant  not  to  make  this  im- 
pression. He  does  not  mean  to  say  that  God  has  ac- 
tually created  men  unto  vanity,  but  only  that  there 


359 

are  many  things  in  his  providence,  and  in  our  human 
condition  which  look  as  if  he  had  made  us  in  vain  ; 
and  that  to  reason,  imenhghtened  by  revelation,  it  is 
very  hard,  if  not  perfectly  impossible,  to  reconcile 
much  that  we  see  of  the  providential  dispensations 
of  Jehovah  with  the  moral  attributes  of  that  infinitely 
perfect  Being.  Now  there  is  nothing  more  true  than 
this.  We  can  demonstrttte  it  ;  we  feel  it.  Who  has 
not  sometimes  found  himself  engaged  in  a  train  of 
thinking  like  this  which  the  Psalmist  details,  and 
who  when  he  has  meditated  on  such  facts,  has  not 
found  himself  brought  to  the  same  conchision,  and 
surprised  himself  in  the  act  of  asking  questions  to  the 
same  amount  with  this,  "  Wherefore  hast  thou  made 
man  in  vain  ?" 

To  direct  your  attention  to  some  of  those  facts  and 
phenomena  which  seem  to  prove  that  God  has  created 
us  unto  vanity  is  the  first  part  of  my  design  ;  and  the 
second  is  to  show,  by  several  considerations,  which  I 
derive  from  the  inspired  oracles  of  God,  that  these 
facts  do  not  prove  what  they  appear  to  prove,  and 
that  there  is  nothing  we  observe  in  the  Providence 
of  God,  which  revelation  does  not  enable  us  to  recon- 
cile  with  the  perfections  of  God. 

1.  The  first  fact  to  which  I  refer  you  is  one  that 
has  frequently  and  strongly  impressed  my  own  mind  ; 
it  is  the  almost  infinite  disproportion  which  we  find 
to  exist  between  the  faculties  of  man  and  his  actual 
occupations  ;  his  faculties  how  noble,  how  solemn, 
how  efficient,  his  employments  how  mean,  how  fri- 
volous, how  unprofitable  !  Who  is  not  struck  with 
the  apparent  waste   of  mind  ?     The   human   soul, 


360  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

although  in  all  much  embarrassed  in  its  operations, 
and  in  some  making  but  few  and  faint  discoveries  of 
its  real  glory,  has  beyond  a  doubt,  faculties  and  capa- 
cities of  the  same  kind  with  the  angels,  and  if  not 
quite  so  high,  yet  but  a  little  lower  in  degree  than 
those  heavenly  beings  whose  never  ceasing  occupa- 
tion is  adoration  and  worship,  and  whose  only  study 
is  God.  Yet  man  with  taleuts  approaching  to  the 
angels,  as  fit  by  nature  as  they  to  love  and  contem- 
plate, to  praise  and  study  God,  how  differently  is  he 
engaged  !  in  employments  some  of  which  require  no 
intellect  at  all,  others  but  a  very  feeble  degree  of  it, 
and  all  as  far  below  what  seems  suited  to  his  moral 
and  intellectual  nature,  as  the  insignificant  labors  of 
an  insect  are  below  the  dignity  of  the  noble  courser. 
It  is  like  giving  one  the  strength  of  a  giant  to  do  a 
pigmy's  work.  The  disproportion  is  not  less  great. 
The  unsuitableness  is  not  less  obvious.  The  wisdom 
of  the  great  Dispenser  is  as  hard  to  be  established  in 
the  one  case  as  in  the  other  ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  if 
a  man  finding  himself  possessed  of  such  powers  so 
meanly  set  to  work,  exclaims  in  view  of  it  "  where- 
fore hast  thou  made  me  in  vain  ?"  But  I  will  advance 
a  consideration  by  and  by  to  show  that  this  fact  is  far 
from  justifying  the  exclamation. 

2.  When  we  contemplate  the  equal  disproportion 
between  human  desires  and  human  attainments,  we 
arrive  at  the  same  conclusion.  What  an  amazing 
inequality  between  what  we  find  without  us,  and 
what  we  feel  within  us  !  The  desires  of  the  human 
soul  do  not  merely  transcend  its  actual  attainments, 
so  that  it  is  not  in  fact  satisfied,  but  they  also  trans- 


NEVINS    SERMONS.  3G1 

cend  his  possible  attainments,  so  that  he  cannot  ever 
be  satisfied  from  any  or  all  of  the  things  that  Cod 
has  thrown  around  him.  Perhaps  there  could  not  be 
devised  a  more  effectual  metliod  to  make  men  mise- 
rable than  to  give  them  at  once  all  they  seek  after  on 
earth,  and  the  whole  that  they  could  liave  from  this 
world.  They  would  then  perceive  immediately  its 
unsatisfactoriness,  which  now  they  do  not  discover, 
because  they  are  ever  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  some 
nnattained  2;ood  that  is  before  them  ;  and  there  is 
much  more  to  bear  up  and  satisfy  the  soul  in  the 
pursuit  of  an  nnattained  object,  then  there  is  in  the 
actual  attainment  of  what  is  sought  after.  And  does 
not  this  bespeak  vanity,  and  does  it  not  look  as  if  the 
God  who  has  planted  such  unsatisfiable  desires 
within  us,  has  made  us  in  vain  ?  doth  it  not  seem  to 
justify  the  mournful  exclamation  of  the  Psalmist? 

3.  But  it  is  particularly  when  we  contemplate  the 
dispensations  of  God  with  respect  to  life  and  death, 
that  we  feel  ourselves,  almost  involuntarily,  led  to 
adopt  the  language  of  our  text.  At  every  step,  that 
we  take  in  the  progress  of  our  observations  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  we  find  good  reason  for  indulging 
in  this  melancholy  strain  of  expostulation  ;  but  more 
especially  when  we  stand  over  the  grave  itself,  when 
we  look  on  the  last  visible  end  of  man,  and  look  into 
that  open  place  which  receives  all  that  is  left  of  love 
and  friendship,  and  the  once  warm  heart,  and  the 
once  loving  eye  and  voice  that  revealed  the  secrets  of 
the  mysterious  mind,  and  then  think  that  there  is  no 
man  that  liveth  that  shall  not  see  death.  Who  can 
31 


362 


help  crying  out  in  agony  of  soul  "  wherefore  hast 
thou  made  all  men  in  vain  ?" 

Is  not  this  that  I  am  going  to  describe  with  few 
exceptions,  the  inevitable  lot  of  every  man  ?  We  look 
at  him  now,  and  he  is  in  trouble  and  tears  ;  his  soul 
is  sunken  within  him;  his  spirit  is  sore  wounded  ; 
and  the  world  that  yesterday  looked  so  fair  and  flat- 
tering is  now  all  a  blank,  a  vanity.  What  has  hap- 
pened ?  The  soul  that  mingled  itself  with  his  soul, 
and  intertwined  its  hfe  with  his  life,  has  been  sud- 
denly and  forcibly  disengaged,  and  is  gone,  he  knows 
not  whither,  only  he  knows  it  is  forever  gone.  Per- 
haps it  is  some  poor  orphan  whose  desolation  has 
just  been  completed  ;  or  some  lonely  widow  that  has 
taken  final  leave  of  him  who  was  the  solace  and  sup- 
port of  life  ;  or  some  hoary-headed  parent  going  down 
mourning  to  the  grave  because  he  is  bereaved  of  his 
children.  We  look  at  him  again,  and  he  himself  is 
racked  with  pain  or  languishing  with  debility  or 
loathsome  with  disease  ;  and  now  the  last  sweat  of 
toiling,  struggling  nature  has  risen  upon  him,  the 
last  current  of  life  has  been  thrown  out  from  the  ex- 
hausted heart,  the  voice  has  only  strength  to  whisper 
a  parting  and  a  prayer,  the  last  long  difficult  breath 
that  bears  the  soul  upon  it  is  breathing,  is  breathed ; 
and  the  spirit  is  clean  gone,  where  ?  The  eye  cannot 
follow  it;  reason  cannot  answer,  revelation  says  (with 
a  voice  yet  more  awful  than  the  silence  of  reason,)  to 
the  Judgment.  The  body  is  left  voiceless,  motionless, 
senseless  and  only  above  the  other  dust,  as  associa- 
tion endears  it.  But  even  that  poor  relic  cannot  be 
kept ;  it  is  offensive  to  the  living  ;  it  must  be  taken 


NEVINS'  SERMO^'S.  363 

away  and  covered  from  the  sight.     And  does  it  not 
seem  as  if  God  had  created  man  unto  vanity  ? 

A  multitude  of  facts  under  this  head  come  crowd- 
ing upon  me,  all  tending  to  confirm  the  same  melan- 
choly conclusion,  all  conducting  us  into  a  region  of 
darkness  with  respect  to  God  which  reason  has  not 
one  ray  of  light  to  relieve,  and  which  but  for  truths 
which  revelation  discloses,  would  enshroud  the  cha- 
racter of  our  God  forever. 

The  absolute  brevity  of  human  life  impresses  me ; 
and  in  this  very  composition,  and  in  immediate  prece- 
dence of  our  text  the  Psalmist  reminds  his  Maker  of 
it ;  "  remember  how  short  my  time  is."  What  a  mere 
moment  is  the  longest  term  of  years,  which  any  are 
permitted  to  reach,  for  such  a  being  as  man  to  live, 
a  being  gifted  with  such  intelligence,  capable  of  form- 
ing such  extensive  plans,  of  engaging  in  enterprises 
so  magnificent,  and  of  contracting  attachments  so 
strong  and  so  lasting  ;  a  being  above  all  whose  first 
taste  of  life  creates  in  him  a  thirst  which  nothing  but 
immortality  can  satisfy.  Does  it  not  look  as  if  it 
would  have  been  better  for  him  never  to  have  lived, 
if  he  cannot  live  without  seeing  death,  and  seeing  it 
so  soon  ?  or  at  least  would  it  not  have  been  better  to 
have  given  him  an  inferior  measure  of  intelligence, 
and  a  less  susceptible  heart,  and  to  have  withheld 
from  his  constitution  that  eager  desire  of  existence 
which  makes  death,  when  contemplated  by  the  un- 
aided mind,  so  very  awful  ? 

That  half  of  all  who  are  born  die  in  infancy  and 
earliest  childhood,  die  before  the  image  of  God  is 
saen  in  tliem^  before  their  distinctive  nature  developcs 


384 


itself,  is  another  fact,  which,  if  I  had  no  other  teacher 
but  reason,  1  should  not  know  how  to  reconcile  with 
the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  my  Maker.  Why  are 
so  many  taken  out  of  life,  before  the  one  great  object 
of  life  can  be  understood  or  entered  upon  ?  Are  they 
not  surely  made  in  vain? 

And  here  are  other  phenomena.  I  see  a  youth 
rising  up  into  life,  full  of  hope  and  of  promise,  on 
whose  education  much  has  been  expended,  who  has 
studied  and  toiled  long  and  hard  in  preparation  for 
acting  his  part  in  life,  but  just  as  he  has  finished  him- 
self and  is  ready  to  eng-age  in  some  useful  and  honor- 
able employment  he  is  cut  off,  his  connection  with 
this  world  dissolved  forever,  and  all  that  he  has  done 
seems  to  have  been  done  in  vain.  1  see  the  purposes 
of  ambition  frustrated  in  an  unexpected  moment ; 
and  the  plans  of  the  worldly  minded  suddenly  ar- 
rested. I  see  them  that  occupy  the  places  of  honor 
and  usefulness  dislodged  ;  the  idols  of  public  affec- 
tion are  cast  down,  and  the  pillars  of  the  state  totter 
and  fall  one  after  another.  This  city  has  of  late 
covered  herself  v/ith  the  garments  of  undissembled 
mourning  for  one  of  her  most  beloved  and  honored 
sons,  whom  her  anxieties  and  prayers  were  inefiec- 
tual  to  save,  and  for  whom  she  could  do  nothing  of 
all  her  heart  desired  to  do,  but  deeply  bewail  and 
magnificently  bury.  Four  weeks  ago  and  none  of 
you  stood  firmer  or  promised  fairer  ;  no  eye  beamed 
clearer,  no  foot  stood  firmer,  no  lamp  burned  brighter. 
Now  you  know  how  it  is.  No  more  forever  shall 
that  familiar  voice  be  raised  in  defence  of  innocence 
and  in  advocacy  of  right.     No  more  shall  be  ex- 


365 


changed  the  friendly  salutation.  And  never,  never, 
more  shall  the  door  of  that  desolate  home  open  for 
him  to  enter,  who  was  the  light  and  comfort  of  iL 
Where  now  is  all  that  activity  and  enthusiam  gone? 
Who  can  contemplate  such  a  case  without  feeling  in 
spite  of  himself  as  if  God  had  made  us  all  in  vain  ? 
I  need  not  add  to  this  melancholy  catalogue  of  facts. 
It  is  time  that  I  should  redeem  my  promise  to  solve 
these  difficulties  and  to  show  that  the  facts  alledged 
prove  not  what  they  appear  to  prove.  How  to  do  this,  if 
I  had  only  my  own  mind  to  consult,  I  should  not  know. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  pensive  language  of  my  text 
is  that  in  which  reason  naturally  expresses  herself 
She  knows  nothing  about  immortality  and  little  of 
God.  I  get  no  light  upon  this  subject  except  from 
revelation.  I  find  no  difficulty  solved  and  no  doubt 
removed,  till  I  read  these  pages.  Reason,  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  teaches  man  much  less  than  is  gene- 
rally supposed,  and  has  the  credit  of  giving  much 
information  which  she  herself  has  acquired  from  the 
word  of  God.  Man,  in  the  school  of  mere  reason, 
would  be  quite  a  different  being  from  what  any  one 
professed  pupil  of  reason  has  ever  been.  There  was 
never  that  heathen  man  lived,  whose  views  and  cha- 
racter were  not  in  some  degree  affected  and  modified 
by  traditionary  revelation  :  and  there  was  never  the 
infidel  however  determined  in  his  intention  to  reject 
all  revelation,  who  has  been  able  to  distinguish  ex- 
actly and  reject  all  the  notices  he  has  received  from 
revelation.  Neither  the  philosophy  of  heathenism 
nor  the  philosophy  of  infidelity  is  the  sole  work  of 
reason  ;  but  the  most  important  truths  in  either  sys- 

31* 


366  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

tern  are  the  truths  of  revelation,  and  had  they  'not 
first  been  intimated  to  man  in  this  way,  they  would 
never  have  had  a  place  in  any  pliilosophical  system. 
The  truths  of  revelation  which  throw  light  upon 
this  dark  yet  most  interesting  subject  are  many.  I 
shall  briefly  enumerate  a  few. 

1.  It  affords  a  clear  and  satisfactory  demonstration 
of  a  future  and  immortal  state.  Death,  it  informs  us 
is  not  the  end  of  our  being  ;  it  is  not  even  an  inter- 
ruption of  it.  It  is  but  an  event  that  befalls  a  man  at 
a  certain  point  of  his  endless  existence.  It  is  but  a 
change  of  place  and  circumstances.  It  is  not  true 
that  God  has  brouMit  such  a  beinof  as  man  into  ex- 
istence  to  destroy  him  again  in  a  day.  He  lives  for- 
ever, and,  therefore,  every  conclusion  that  reasons  on 
the  supposition  that  he  does  not,  is  false  and  must  be 
set  aside. 

2.  Again  ;  it  brings  to  view  this  most  important 
truth,  which  alone  is  sufficient  to  explain  almost  all  the 
difficulties  of  our  present  state,  that  this  beginning 
of  our  being  is  probationary  and  preparatory  to  an 
endless  retribution  that  is  to  follow.  If  this  be  true, 
it  is  not  wonderful  that  man  should  be  subject  to 
such  a  multitude  of  trials  and  afflictions ;  and  those 
trials  and  afflictions,  so  far  from  proving  the  vanity 
of  his  state,  may  be  made  to  contribute  most  effec- 
tually to  the  ultimate  perfection  of  his  character  and 
happiness.  Then,  again,  if  this  life  be  a  period  of 
probation,  it  is  fit  that  it  should  be  short;  and  it  is 
kind  in  God  to  make  it  so.  It  is  better,  both  for  the 
wicked  and  the  righteous,  that  it  should  be  so.  And, 
when  we  remind  God  how  short  our  time  is,  we  do 


367 

in  reality  remind  him  how  benignaDtly  he  has  dealt 
with  us.  The  inequality  of  human  life  appears  not 
so  strange  on  this  supposition.  There  may  be  ex- 
cellent reasons,  though  we  cannot  fathom  them,  why 
so  large  a  proportion  of  mankind  should  never  ac- 
tively engage  in  the  great  business  of  life,  and  why 
the  term  of  probation  to  some  should  be  much  shorter 
than  it  is  to  others.  And  that  which  we  call  a  pre- 
mature death,  may  be  far  from  premature.  If  the 
grand  design  of  life  be  answered  and  the  work  of 
life  be  done,  no  death,  however  early  or  sudden,  de- 
serves to  be  called  premature ;  but  if  otherwise,  the 
longest  life  is  vanity,  and  the  latest  and  most  lin- 
gering death  is  premature.  Nor  do  I  see  any  thing 
in  trie  uncertainty  of  human  life  that  is  not  ordered 
in  wisdom  and  kindness,  if  life  be  probationary.  It 
is  fit  that  man  should  be  in  the  momentary  expecta- 
tion of  being  called  to  give  up  his  account  ;  it  is  fit 
that  he  should,  at  all  times,  have  the  necessary  part  of 
his  work  done,  which  would  never  be  the  case  could 
he  calculate  with  certainty  on  the  future. 

There  is  another  truth  of  revelation  which  I  think 
appropriate  to  the  design  I  have  now  in  view.  We 
learn  from  it  that  the  things  which  we  do  here  on 
earth,  arc  not  of  so  much  importance  as  the  manner 
of  doino-  them.  It  is  not  of  so  much  consequence 
whether  a  man  tug  at  the  oar,  or  stand  at  the  helm 
of  a  mighty  state,  whether  his  occupation  be  mean 
or  honorable,  but  it  is  of  infinite  consequence  that  he 
acquit  himself  well  in  that  occupation,  whatever  it 
be.  And  he  who,  in  what  he  does,  maintains  the 
supremacy  of  the   fear  of  God,  and  makes  every 


368 


thing  bow  to  conscience,  and  has  a  steady  regard  to 
that  tribunal  at  which  all  the  external  and  internal 
things  of  man  are  to  be  scrutinized  and  decided  upon, 
is  nobly  employed,  and  the  dignity  of  human  nature 
suffers  nothing  from  him,  though  his  daily  labor  be 
to  shovel  the  dust  of  the  earth.  Whereas  he,  whose 
business  is  to  study  the  stars,  and  his  daily  employ- 
ment to  meditate  on  Him  who  made  them,  if  he  have 
not  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  and  does  not 
keep  up  a  constant  recognition  of  his  amenabless  to 
the  bar  of  God,  is  still  but  meanly  occupied.  It  mat- 
ters not  so  much  on  what  our  faculties  be  employed, 
as  that  they  be  employed  aright ;  and,  therefore, 
God  has  not  made  us  and  furnished  us  in  vain, 
though  for  a  time  he  suffers  us  to  be  occupied  in 
things  that  seem  far  below  what  behooveth  the  na- 
ture he  has  bestowed  upon  us  ;  and  that  our  attain- 
ments here  are  altogether  disproportioned  to  our  de- 
sires, is  no  necessary  proof  of  vanity,  if  the  time 
shall  so  speedily  come  when  the  objects  that  are  ade- 
quate to  them  shall  be  within  their  grasp. 

Let  these  considerations  suffice  to  show  that  the 
conclusion  implied  in  our  text,  is  hastily  drawn. 
God  has  not  made  all  men  in  vain.  He  has  made  no 
man  in  vain.  We  think  so  only  because  we  do  not 
view  things  in  their  connexion,  because  we  confine  our 
observations  to  this  infancy  of  our  existence,  because 
we  overlook  the  great  object  of  life,  and  the  constitu- 
tion under  which  God  has  placed  us  here.  We  may 
indeed,  live  in  vain,  and  worse  than  in  vain.  Many 
do.  Many,  on  the  bed  of  death,  are  brought  to  confess, 
in  the  anguish  of  a  remorseful  conscience,  that  they 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  369 

have  lived  to  no  purpose  ;  and  more,  who  are  so 
deep  asleep,  that  the  shock  of  death  cannot  awaken 
them,  make  the  same  lamentable  confession,  when, 
from  eternity,  they  look  back  on  the  schemes  and 
labors  of  time ;  and  they  are  not  able  to  take 
to  themselves  the  consolation  of  charging  God  with 
being  the  cause  of  it.  Oh,  yes,  the  man  of  the  world 
is  indeed  made  in  vain  ;  but  it  is  his  own  work. 
His  life  is  a  life  of  splendid  vanity,  as,  when  at  last 
he  comes  to  gather  it  up,  he  finds  it.  He  has  done 
nothing,  he  has  gained  nothing.  The  supreme  busi- 
ness of  existence  has  been  disregarded  ;  eternity  has 
been  laid  out  of  the  question  ;  God  has  been  forgot- 
ten, and  no  reference  has  been  had  to  the  account 
which  he  takes  of  man.  As  a  probationer  for  immor- 
tality, as  a  candidate  for  heaven,  he  has  done  noth- 
ing ;  and  whatever  may  have  been  the  splendor 
and  the  success  of  his  secular  enterprises,  the  wealth 
that  he  amassed,  and  the  honor  that  he  has  acquired 
and  preserved  unto  an  old  no^e,  vanity  is  the  solitary 
word  that  deserves  to  be  written  in  capitals  as  the 
only  appropriate  inscription  for  his  monument. 
There  is  but  one  way  of  living  to  any  purpose  ; 
and  that  is  by  being  a  Christian  in  reahty  and  in 
heart.  There  is  nothing  vain,  nothing  negative, 
nothing  necessarily  profitless  in  the  life  of  a  disciple 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  a  child  of  the  heavenly  ado[)tion, 
no  matter  what  scenes  he  passes  through  and  what 
events  befall  him  on  earth.  How  can  there  be  when 
God  promises  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  him?  His  very  bereavements^ 
and  disappointments,  and  faiUires,  and  these  various 


370 


trials,  which  cause  him  to  exclaim  at  the  vanity  of 
human  Ufe.  do  send  a  most  benignant  influence  over 
the  whole  of  the  immortal  future.  Afiliction  worketh 
for  him  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory ;  he  suffers  not  one  unprofitable  pain ;  the 
sicknesses  of  his  body  are  all  turned  to  meet  the  ne- 
cessities of  his  soul.  And  he  dies  just  in  the  man- 
ner and  just  at  the  time  that  he  ought  to  die  for  the 
greatest  good  of  his  soul ;  his  works  follow  him  ;  he 
finds  death  gain. 

I  will  presume  to  take  the  liberty  of  inquiring  of 
you  in  what  manner  you  are  living,  whether  for  eter- 
nity, whether  with  an  hourly  reference  to  the  bar  at 
which  you  are  to  be  arraigned  and  tried,  whether  in 
continual  remembrance  of  God,  whether  with  the 
grand  design  of  life  steadily  in  view,  whether  as 
plainly  becometh  a  being  whom  the  Son  of  God  has 
suffered  for  ?  Ask  ye,  and  answer  the  questions. 
It  is  not  only  vanity,  it  is  madness  to  overlook  them. 
If  ye  live  otherwise,  ye  not  only  live  to  no  purpose, 
but  to  the  worst  of  all  purposes. 


SERMON   XXVII 


So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts  unto 
wisdom. — Psalm  xc.  12. 


It  may  be  known  to  you  that  David  was  not  tlie 
author  of  all  the  Psalms  of  the  collection  which  goes 
under  his  name.  Among  those  which  he  compiled, 
that  from  which  the  text  is  taken,  is  one.  It  is  en- 
titled, "J.  prayer  of  Moses,  the  Man  of  God ;'^  and 
it  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  somewhere  in 
the  wilderness.  The  immediate  occasion  of  it 
is  thought  to  have  been  the  spectacle  of  one  of  those 
sudden  and  signal  displays  of  the  divine  displeasure, 
Avhich  visited  the  journeying  Israelites  with  g^reat 
and  general  mortality,  sweeping  off  their  thousands, 
and  carrying  them  away  as  with  a  flood.  We  should 
suppose  from  the  tenor  of  the  Psalm,  that  the  writer 
had  under  his  eye,  death,  not  as  he  advances  by 
slow  and  natural  steppings,  but  death  as  he  passes 
along  with  the  drift  and  destruction  of  the  storm. 
"  Thou  turnest  man  to  destruction^  "  Tliou  car- 
riest  the?n  aivay  as  ivith  a  floodJ''  "  We  are  con- 
sumed  by  thine  anger^ 

The  meditation  which  he  pursues  is,  however,  of 
universal  interest,  because  the  condition  of  man  on 
earth  which  it  contemplates,  has  been  found  to  be 


372 


the  same  in  every  subsequent  age.  And  the  very 
reflections  of  this  ancient  man  of  God,  are  continu- 
ally obtruded  upon  our  minds  by  facts  ahnost  as 
striking  and  revolting  as  those  which  fell  under  the 
observation  of  Moses.  The  same  hasty  work  of 
death  is  going  on  upon  the  field  which  our  eyes 
survey.  And  now,  as  well  as  when  Israel  was  in  the 
wilderness,  that  which  in  the  morning  flourisheth 
and  groweth  up,  is  cut  down  and  withered  in 
the  evening.  The  tide  of  destruction  sets  as 
strong  as  ever,  and  floats  upon  each  successive 
swell,  as  many  spirits  to  eternity.  There  has  been 
no  repeal,  nor  even  a  relaxation  of  that  law,  ^^Dust 
thou  artj  and  unto  dust  thou  shall  returnP  Life  is 
now  that  vapor,  span,  handbreadih,  vanity,  told 
tale  it  ever  was.  The  unseen  execution  of  the  sen- 
tence that  went  forth  from  God  against  man,  the 
angel  of  death  has  passed  down  the  ages,  sweeping 
away  all  that  was  good  and  beautiful  and  great ;  and 
reducing  all  to  the  same  low  level  of  torpor  and  cor- 
ruption. Generation  has  followed  close  upon  gene- 
ration, with  its  burden  of  souls  for  eternity,  as  wave 
follows  wave,  commincrlino^  and  losins:  its  waters  in 
the  ocean.  In  the  current  arithmetic  of  life  which 
never  stands  still,  each  day,  and  hour,  and  minute 
is  substracting  spirits  from  time  and  addino^  them  to 
eternity,  until  now  the  living  are  as  nothing  to  the 
dead,  and  the  grave  has  the  immense  and  overflow- 
ing majority. 

There  is  then  a  general  appropriateness  in  these 
reflections  ;  but,  besides  this,  there  is  a  specAal  pro- 
priety in  them,  now  that  we  are  standing  by  the 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  373 

grave  of  one  year  and  witnessing  (lie  birth  of  another; 
looking  back  upon  the  facts  of  the  past  and  forward 
to  the  probabihties  of  the  future.  Who,  wiien  lie 
reviews  the  year  that  has  just  gone,  though  it  was 
like  all  the  years  that  went  before  it,  can  forbear  to 
pray,  "  Lord^  make  me  to  know  my  end  and  the 
measure  of  my  days ;  teach  me  to  number  my  days  ?" 
How  wide  and  awful  the  ravage  Vv^hich  that  single 
twelvemonth  has  made  in  the  population  of  the 
world.  Thirty  millions  of  this  great  brotherhood, 
who,  but  a  year  ago  were  living,  or  had  not  begun 
to  live,  now  know  the  secret  of  eternity.  Others 
have  crowded  into  their  places,  while  they  have  gone 
willingly  or  unwillingly,  to  join  that  great  assemblage 
of  mankind,  incalculably  more  numerous  than  that 
which  now  peoples  the  earth,  who  wait  and  wait  and 
wait  for  the  long -lingering  wind  of  the  last  trumpet 
to  the  dead.  It  is  not  right  to  call  this  earth  the 
abiding  spot  and  home  of  mankind.  It  is  but  tlieir 
short  breathing  place.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
race  are  only  born  here,  as  if  it  were  but  to  leave  a 
body  behind  them,  ere  they  go  to  join  the  great  con- 
course of  spirits.  And,  oh  !  who,  when  he  turns 
from  a  review  of  the  past,  to  the  anticipation  of  the 
future,  will  not,  with  yet  more  feeling,  repeat  the 
prayer,  "  Lord^  teach  me  to  number  my  days .?" 
When  he  thinks  that  the  new  year  shall  go  on  with 
the  same  steady  step  to  crowd  away  other  millions, 
and  that  this  sliall  be  succeeded  by  another  and  ano- 
ther, until  the  now  living  generation  sliall  all  be 
swept  away.   There  is  something  in  the  very  i)rogress 

32 


374 


of  the  work  by  which  generations  pass  away,  which 
makes  it  yet  more  melancholy  to  contemplate.  It  is 
truly  an  affecting  thought,  that,  of  all  who  are  now 
listening  to  me,  there  shall  not  be,  in  a  few  years, 
one  survivor  on  earth.  And  yet  I  think  there  is 
something  still  more  deeply  touching  in  the  view  of 
that  gradual  dropping  away  of  one  after  another, 
vacating  his  seat  and  causing  the  place  that  once 
knew  him,  to  know  him  no  more,  until  the  whole  of 
us  shall  have  passed  away;  and  he  who  looks  down 
from  this  pulpit  shall  meet  other  eyes,  when  all  these 
are  sealed  in  death,  and  speak  of  redemption  to  the 
future  prisoners  of  hope,  when  we  shall  be  enjoying 
all  its  fullness,  or  have  forfeited  its  privileges,  and 
are  past  its  power  forever. 

"  So  teach  7is  to  miniber  our  days^  that  we  may 
apply  our  hearts  unto  7visdo?7i" 

I.  Let  us  then  inquire  what  is  the  true  art  of  num- 
bering our  days,  and  how  we  may  learn  the  correct 
arithmetic  of  life.  The  theoretical  part  of  the  busi- 
ness, the  science  of  numbering  our  days  is  by  no 
means  very  difficult.  It  is  not  hard,  with  all  the 
facts  we  have,  to  come  to  a  correct  estimate  of  human 
fife. 

1.  Let  us  add  them  up  and  find  the  sum  of  them. 

The  term  of  human  life  has  been  shortened  at 
successive  times,  until  fixed  at  its  present  limitation. 
The  diys  of  the  years  of  man  were  once  nearly  a 
thousand  years.  But  God,  for  reasons  not  at  all  ho- 
norable to  man,  viz.  because  the  wickedness  of  man 
waxed  great  in  the  earth,  and  he  had  too  long  a  time 
to  plot  and  execute  purposes  of  mischief,  and  perhaps 


375 

to  prevent  the  necessity  of  a  second  deluge,  cut  short 
his  days.  The  process  of  shortening  the  term  of  or- 
dinary hving  was  gradual.  Noah^  with  his  antide- 
luvian  constitution,  Uved  to  the  period  of  his  fathers 
950  years.  She?n^  who  had  only  the  advantage  of 
an  antideluvian  hirth,  was  cut  short,  perhaps  by  the 
climate  after  the  flood,  350  years  ;  200  years  were 
taken  fi-om  the  lives  of  his  immediate  descendants 
and  the  average  age  of  the  three  succeeding  genera- 
tions was  about  440.  The  next  change  was  in  the 
time  of  Peleg^  who,  with  his  descendants  for  several 
generations,  lived  but  about  240  years.  And  so  the 
diminution  went  gradually  on.  Terah,  the  father 
of  Abraham  lived  205  years.  The  three  Patriarchs 
reached  the  age  of  about  180.  When  Israel  was 
passing  through  the  wilderness,  the  boundary 
was  fixed,  as  it  is  said  in  this  Psalm,  to  three  score 
years  and  ten  ;  and  now,  when  we  speak  of  human 
hfe  in  the  abstract,  this  is  the  amount  at  which  it  is 
reckoned  ;  70  years  ;  this  is  the  first  number  in  our 
calculation  ;  the  short  year  that  is  gone  seventy  times 
repeated  and  no  more.  1  know  that  when  one  looks 
forward  from  childhood,  through  youth  and  man- 
hood, to  old  age,  the  term  seems  long,  and  the  heart 
is  ready  to  say  "  it  is  enoughP  Hope  is  in  the  future, 
and  in  the  soul's  earnest  aspiring  after  it,  time  seems 
to  move  but  tardily.  The  fore  ground  is  full  of  g^oodly 
prospects,  and  in  the  eagerness  to  enjoy,  the  space 
looks  long  to  pass  over.  But  when  all  that  was  ni 
prospect  has  been  seen  and  tasted,  and  hope  has  been 
attained  or  disappointed,  and  when  the  eye,  from  the 
other  extreme  of  life,  and  with  eternity  full  and  near 


376 

before  it,  casts  a  returning  look,  how  short  and  dimin- 
ished appears  the  distance  between  this  day,  and  the 
first  remembered  day  ;  and  who  of  the  aged  will  not 
exclaim  with  good  old  Jacob  ^''  few  have  been  the 
days  of  the  years  of  my  'pilgrimage  ?" 

But  let  your  seventy  years  be  as  much,  as  your 
imagination  can  make  them.  I  will  not  try  to  make 
the  small  number  less.  Think  ihe  term  long,  if 
you  will.  Bat  you  have  not  yet  numbered  your 
days.     For, 

2.  In  the  true  arithmetic  of  life  there  is  a  suh- 
str action  to  he  made.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  exist- 
ence which  you  must  not  count  life.  There  are  the 
days  of  infancy  of  which  there  is  no  memory  left. 
There  are  the  hours  of  sleep,  which  are  as  if  they 
were  not;  those  intermediate  deaths  they  maybe 
called,  in  which  we  do  not  so  much  live  as  prepare 
to  live  ;  and  there  are  those  many  days  and  hours  in 
which,  from  a  great  variety  of  causes,  the  mind  is  not 
fitted  for  exertion,  nor  the  hand  for  labor.  They 
must  all  be  deducted.  They  are  nothing  in  the 
correct  estimate  of  life,  and  then  how  dimished  the 
remainder  of  the  hours  of  thought  and  activity,  which 
alone  deserve  to  be  called  life,  is  left  to  you.  Great- 
er, far  greater  are  the  intervals,  than  the  actual,  cur- 
rent life.  But  we  have  not  made  out  our  estimate 
yet.  We  have  spoken  of  the  abstract  amount.  We 
have  been  calculating  the  absolute  of  human  life. 
But  it  does  not  stand  unconnected  ;  and  let  us. 

3.  Look  at  it  as  it  stands  related  to  that  which 
shall  come  after  it.  We  must  state  the  proportion 
between  this  life  and  the  life  beyond  it ;  and  ascertain 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  ^  377 

the  ratio  of  this  part  to  man's  entire  existence.  The 
terms  long  and  short  are  relative  and  if  we  would 
know  which  of  these  belong  to  our  hfe,  we  must 
compare  our  seventy  years  with  the  hereafter,  eter- 
nity. There  can  be  no  comparison.  There  exists 
no  proportion.  Who  can  complete  the  ratio  of  the 
finite  to  the  infinite  l  Ah,  it  is  in  this  view  that  the 
Bible  tells  us  of  life,  that  it  is  a  vapor,  a  morning 
flower,  a  handbreadth,  a  span,  a  vanity,  a  dream, 
a  tale,  a  nothing.  A  single  grain  of  sand  bears  some 
proportion  to  the  sum  of  the  drifts  of  the  desert,  a 
drop,  nay,  the  least  particle  of  exhaled  vapor  has  a 
calculable  relation  to  the  aggregate  waters  of  the 
ocean,  that  has  scarcely  a  sounding  or  a  shore.  A 
moment,  the  present  novj^  might  be  multiplied  into 
the  life  of  the  earliest  made  angels  but  no  multipli- 
cation of  time  can  make  eternity.  This  life  can 
be  no  measure  of  the  life  to  come  ;  however  long 
it  may  be,  yet  placed  beside  the  line  of  eter- 
nity, it  diminishes  to  a  point,  and  the  point  itself  is 
lost.  What  would  you  think  of  seventy  years,  if 
they  were  marked  off  from  some  distant  point  in  the 
endless  futurity?  AVould  you  not  think  that  term, 
as  but  a  little,  trifling  interval,  would  you  not  esteem 
it  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch  in  the 
night,  or  as  a  sleep  ?  And  why  not  think  the  same 
of  that  seventy  years,  which  begins  the  endless 
series? 

But  you  may  be  thinking,  what  is  the  profit  of  this 
calculation,  if  death  does  not  end  nor  even  interrupt 
our  existence,  what  if  life  be  as  it  is  represented  by  us) 

4.  Hear  then  another  part  of  this  estimate.     Wo 
3:2* 


378  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

have  not  yet  taken  into  view  the  hearing  of  this  life, 
on  the  hfe  to  come.  If  it  were  an  unconnected  quan- 
tity, no  matter  for  it.  No  matter  how  short  and  how 
squandered,  if  when  gone,  it  were  gone  forever  and 
forgotten  ;  if  the  consequences  of  time  did  not  sur- 
vive time  itself;  if  no  influence  were  sent  out  from 
it  into  and  through  eternity  ;  if  life  and  all  its  doings 
were  not  to  pass  under  the  eye  and  the  review  of 
God.  But  time  is  to  give  complexion  to  eternity. 
The  moments  that  come  and  go  in  such  rapid  suc- 
cession and  are  counted  to  he  no  more,  are,  every  one 
of  them,  immortal  in  their  consequences.  Every  mo- 
ment that  God  gives  to  man,  shall  return  at  the  ap- 
pointed day  and  make  its  report  of  every  deed,  and 
whisper  and  thought  hefore  the  judgment  throne. 
Time  is  to  man,  in  some  respects,  a  more  serious 
season  than  eternity.  Eternity  is  absolutely  the 
creature  of  time ;  derives  all  its  cast  and  character 
from  time  ;  is  troubled  or  serene,  inviting  or  revolt- 
ing, a  blessing  or  a  curse,  as  time,  omnipotent  time 
ordains  it.  Life  is  probationary,  immortality  retribu- 
tive. The  present  is  seed  time,  the  future  is  har- 
vest season.  Take  this  into  the  estimate.  In  the 
numbering  of  your  days,  overlook  not  this  most  seri- 
ous consideration. 

So  then  this  is  the  result.  We  have  seventy 
years  given  us,  diminished  indeed  by  a  few  de- 
ductions ;  and  though  nothing  in  comparison  with 
eternity,  yet  something  in  itself,  and  in  this  term 
we  are  to  act  for  eternity,  we  are  to  make  or 
to  mar  our  endless  future  prospects,  and  this  you  sup- 
pose is  the  end  of  this  alarming  computation.     No. 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  379 

5.  There  is  one  thing  more  in  the  omission  of  which, 
we  should  be  miserably  out  in  our  calculations.  It 
is  that  which  embarrasses  the  whole  proceeding.  I 
have  been  speaking  as  if  all  the  items  in  this  nume- 
ration were  known  and  certain  ;  but  ah  there  is  one 
unknown  and  variable  quantity  in  this  arithmetic, 
and  there  is  no  algebraic  process  by  which  the  value 
of  it  can  be  ascertained.  We  called  it  seventy  years, 
but  in  the  ten  thousand  cases  it  means  nothing  like 
that.  It  only  may  mean  that,  and  it  may  and  does 
also  stand  for  any  thing  less,  down  to  the  infant's 
first  and  only  moment ;  and  we  can  never  know  what 
it  stands  for,  until  it  is  too  late  to  care  for  it.  This 
it  is  that  baffles  us,  and  there  is  no  rule  in  arithme- 
tic which  will  help  us  out  of  the  difficulty.  There 
is  a  constant  addition  of  days,  but  how  many  yet  re- 
main in  the  hand  that  tells  them  off,  we  have  no 
means  of  knowing.  It  is  the  secret  of  the  Lord, 
which  he  never  tells,  not  even  to  them  that  fear  him. 
He  may  have  written  for  ten,  or  thirty,  or  fifty  years, 
or  he  may  strike  the  account  to-morrow,  or  this 
nighty  he  may  break  in  upon  your  anticipations  and 
hopes,  and  say  to  thee,  when  thy  heart  is  beating 
high  and  strong,  ''Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  is 
required  of  thee."  Oh  !  forget  not  this  unknown 
number;  forget  not  this  uncertainty,  this  embar- 
rassmg,  most  alarming  uncertainty. 

And  noiD  what  is  the  final  result  7  Wliere  ends 
our  calculation  ?  What  is  life  ?  Not  the  probable 
life  ;  but  the  life  we  are  certain  of;  the  life  we  can 
calculate  upon  ;  the  life  which  we  have  a  right  to 
call  ours.     It  is  this,  and  no  more  than  this  :  the 


380 

present,  indivisible,  irredeemable  morrjent  added  to 
tlie  moments  that  are  past ;  and  since,  in  some  sense, 
and  for  all  that  is  yet  to  be  done,  the  moments  past 
are  as  if  they  had  never  been,  it  is  this  moment 
only,  which  you  cannot  reflect  upon,  ere  it  is  gone 
irrecoverable,  and  which,  when  gone,  is  past  all  ran- 
som price  to  redeem.  There  was  a  price  in  heaven 
for  the  soul ;  but  there  is  none  for  lost  and  squan- 
dered days.  Our  days,  when  numbered,  are  reduced 
to  this  moment,  this,  and  perhaps  the  next,  and  as 
many  more  as  God  will.  It  is  now^  and  the  very  least 
which  that  word  ever  signifies.  You  sit  unalarmed, 
ye  dying  men.  I  know  why.  You  are  thinking 
that  the  probabilities  are  millions  to  one;  that  life, 
to  you,  is  more,  much  more  than  I  am  making  it. 
You  are  right.  I  am  only  contending  for  the  one 
chance  that  is  against  you.  I  argue  but  for  the  pos- 
sibility. That  is  enough  for  me.  There  is  one 
against  you  ;  and,  oh  !  it  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  play 
at  a  game,  when  the  stake  is  eternity,  at  any  odds, 
at  any  hazard.  Great  as  is  the  probability  of  life,  it 
is  ever  diminishing;  and  the  time  will  como,  when 
the  probability  still. continuing  that  you  will  live,  the 
fact  will  be  that  you  will  die  ;  and  that  this  is  not  a 
false  or  puerile  calculation,  how  often  does  the  alone 
arbiter  of  life  make  bare  his  arm  to  prove  upon  the 
man  who  counted  on  long  years  of  life  and  pleasure 
here.     I  have  finished  the  calculation. 

II.  And  now  do  you  ask  me  what  lessons  are  to  be 
learned  ?  And  what  inferences  are  to  be  drawn 
from  this  computation  of  our  days  ?  Tell  me  first, 
oh  !  man,  after  what  I  have  said,  have  you  laid  up  a 


381 

treasure  for  yourself  in  heaven  ?  have  you  labored 
diligently  and  successfully  for  the  meat  which  endu- 
reth  unto  ev^erlasting  life?  have  you  sought  already 
the  kingdom  and  righteousness  of  God  and  found 
them?  have  you  secured  the  everlasting:  thintrs? 
done  and  well  done  the  work  given  you  of  God  to 
do?  Hast  thou  repented,  and  believed?  Art  thou 
reconciled,  renewed  ?  If,  brethren,  I  knew  no  more 
of  you  than  that  you  form  a  part  of  God's  intellec- 
tual creation,  I  should  either  not  ask  such  questions, 
or  not  wait  for  an  answer.  Surely,  I  should  say, 
they  have  done,  they  must  have  done  all  this.  Man 
is  not  mad,  surely.  Made,  as  he  is,  in  the  image  of 
God,  he  cannot  be  the  infatuated  being  to  put  off 
important  concerns,  yea,  the  most  important,  to  an 
uncertain  and  precarious  future.  Knowing  that 
the  earthly  house  of  his  tabernacle  is  even  to  be  dis- 
solved, he  has  of  course  secured  the  tenant  spirit,  a 
mansion  in  the  house  not  made  with  hands.  But, 
alas !  experience  does  not  confirm  these  anticipations ; 
and  I  must  doubt,  though  it  should  bring  you  in 
guilty  of  moral  madness,  if  there  be  not  many  here 
who  have  done  none  of  these  things.  "What  says 
the  conscience  suffered  to  speak  out?  and  let  it 
speak  freely,  though  it  be  a  slave  ;  yet  once  a  year, 
let  it  speak  the  truth  with  freedom.  What  says  it  ? 
that  you  have  not  done  these  things  ?  And  ask  you 
then  what  you  have  to  learn  from  this  numbeiing  of 
days?  That  your  conduct  is  more  infatuated  than 
human  language  can  express  ;  that  your  neglect  is 
inexplicable,  except  on  the  hypothesis  that  yon  are 
morally  insane  ;    that  your  procrastination   argues 


382 


the  highest  presumption,  in  league  with  the  most 
thoughtless  folly  ;  that  your  joy  is  infinitely  more 
melancholy  than  any  sorrow.  These  are  a  few  of 
the  lessons. 

You  ask  me  what  you  are  to  learn  from  the  calcu- 
lation which  tells  you  that,  for  the  laying  up  of  your 
store  for  the  future,  for  the  making  of  your  peace  with 
God,  for  the  sowing  of  the  seed  for  eternity,  you  ha^e 
neither  year,  nor  day,  nor  hour,  which  you  can 
count  upon  without  presumption.  What  you  are  to 
learn  from  the  account  which  informs  you,  that, 
upon  the  uncertain  pulsations  of  that  beating  heart, 
which  plays  not  at  your  will,  and  stops  at  another's 
bidding,  depends  the  making  of  your  eternal  destiny ; 
that,  upon  the  moment,  or  moments,  which  remain 
to  be  told  from  the  unknown  amount,  having  infinite 
results,  hang  everlasting  things  ;  and  this  moment 
gone,  and  another  and  another,  the  next  succeeding 
may  find  your  spirit  at  the  last  bar,  before  God,  and 
hearing  the  irreversible  award  !  What  you  are  to 
learn  ?  When  nothing  is  done !  Oh  !  if  there  be  aught 
of  truth  in  these  statements,  and  they  are  all  truth,  it 
wants  a  seraph's  burning  words  to  tell  the  madness 
that  is  in  the  heart  of  man,  while  he  lives  as  he  does 
live,  neglected  of  the  one  great  and  only  needful 
thing  and  wasting  away  his  moments,  as  if  he  had 
the  bank  of  eternity  to  draw  upon.  Go  to  the  ant, 
thou  sluggard,  consider  her  ways  arid  be  wise,  for 
she  provideth  her  meat  in  the  summer  and  gathereth 
her  food  in  the  harvest. 

I  beseech  you,  impenitent  man,  if  there  be  any 
power    of  thinking,   or  any    susceptibility    left,   if 


383 


any  care  for  consequences,  if  any  shuddering  dread 
of  an  endless  hell,  if  any  last  lingering  desire,  in  tiiat 
desolate  bosom,  after  the  heaven  of  God,  which  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  heart  conceived,  if  you  are  not 
quite  prepared  to  give  up  all  forever,  and  embrace 
damnation,  I  beseech  you  in  tlie  name  of  the 
Infinite,  by  that  soul  which  stirs  within  you, 
that  soul  immortal  as  God ;  that  soul,  that  now 
tenants  a  frail  and  perishing  body,  by  that  soul, 
which  hangs  balancing  over  an  eternal  abyss, 
by  that  within  you  that  is  bound  for  God,  have  mercy 
upon  that  soul,  that  it  may  not  die.  Bring  it  to  Jesus 
that  he  may  wash  it  in  his  blood  and  array  it  in  his 
righteousness.  Oh  !  come,  he  waiteth.  To-day  ; 
this  first  of  days. 

I  wish  you  a  happy  new  year  all.  Yet  perhaps 
not  one  of  your  own  happy  years  ;  no  more  of  those 
gay,  unthinking,  merry  ones  that  have  past,  and  that 
will  only  return  again  to  be  wept  over,  but  the  hap- 
piness of  a  year  devoted  to  God  ;  not  such  a  happi- 
ness as  you  seek  to  kindle  for  yourselves,  and  which 
is  as  a  forced  fire,  lighted  up  in  the  midst  of  a  sur- 
rounding and  overshadowing  darkness,  but  that 
which  resembles  the  clear  and  cheerful  shining  of 
the  sun  after  a  night  of  storm  and  sorrow. 

Cliristlans,  this  estimate  of  human  life  may  teach 
you  many  important  lessons.  I  suj)pose  you  to  have 
attained  the  one  great  thing,  but  with  the  same  loud 
voice  with  which  it  calls  on  the  impenitent  to  seek 
God,  it  calls  upon  you  to  grow  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ.  You  are  habitually  prepared 
to  die,  but  are  you  actually  ready,  standing  with 


384 


your  loins  girded  about,  and  your  lamps  trimmed  and 
burnino^,  and  in  the  attitude  of  mind  which  becomes 
those,  who  are  waiting  for  their  Lord's  coming  1  Are 
you  weaned  from  a  world  which  is  so  rapidly  pas- 
sing away  from  under  you,  and  aspiring  after  glory, 
honor  and  immortality  ?  and  loathing  all  these  earthly 
vanities  which  are  served  up  for  you,  do  your  souls 
pant  after  God  and  thirst  for  God,  even  the  living 
God  ?  Your  treasure,  you  suppose  is  in  heaven ; 
are  your  affections  there  ?  Is  your  conversation 
there?  The  time  is  short  and  the  fashion  of  the 
world  passeth  away,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  to  you 
is  at  hand.  "  What  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to 
be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness  ?'  There 
is  that  in  this  meditation  which  should  break  you 
away  from  the  world  and  bind  you  close  to  your  Sa- 
viour ;  which  should  moderate  the  joy  of  prosperity 
and  sooth  the  sorrows  of  adversity,  which  should  re- 
press your  anxieties,  and  check  your  anticipation?. 

And  have  you  no  work  to  do  for  others  ?  Jesus 
Christ  had  no  w^ork  to  do  for  himself,  yet  he  worked 
while  it  was  to-day,  the  work  which  his  Father  had 
given  him  to  do  for  others,  knowing  that  the  night 
drew  near,  in  which  no  man  could  work.  Care  you 
nothing  for  the  souls  that  he  cared  for  and  that  are 
falling  around  you  ;  for  them  whom  nature  has  made 
near  to  you,  or  friendship  has  endeared  to  you  I  Care 
you  nothing  for  the  name  of  God,  and  for  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  ?  Resolve  ;  for  this  is  the  day  for  reso- 
lutions. 

III.  There  is  a  third  part  to  this  subject,  but  I  shall 
not  detain  you  long  upon  it.     You  observe  that  the 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  385 

text  bears  the  form  of  a  prayer,  "So  teach  us  to  num^ 
ber  our  days,  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts  luito 
wisdom."  But  is  there  need  of  praying  on  such  a 
subject  and  for  such  a  purpose?  Are  not  the  facts 
and  truths  on  which  we  built  our  computation,  obvi- 
ous ;  and  were  not  the  inferences  fair?  Can  any 
one  doubt  that  life  is  just  what  I  have  represented  ii 
to  be  ?  And  being  such,  ought  not  man  to  be  and  to 
do  as  I  have  said  ?  Ah,  brethren,  the  man  of  God 
recognizes  a  truth,  almost  as  old  as  the  creation,  that 
man  may  hear  the  most  alarming  truths  and  be  una- 
larmed ;  that  he  may  be  addressed  by  the  most  ur- 
gent motives  and  yet  remain  unmoved  ;  that  facts 
the  most  appalling  and  considerations  the  most  tre- 
mendous, he  has  the  art  of  overlooking  ;  that  reli- 
gious truth,  eternal  truth  has  no  efficacy  with  him. 
Who  doubts  it,  doubts  the  experience  of  almost  six 
thousand  years ;  and  rejects  the  clearest  testimony 
of  his  own  mind ;  for  we  know  that  we  can  stand 
upon  the  breaking  brink  of  time  and  be  unappalled ; 
and  can  look  over  the  perilous  edge  into  eternity  and 
turn  away  and  smile  and  be  all  at  ease  within.  We 
know  that  we  can  and  do  resist  the  most  startling 
truths.  And  it  is  certain  that  you  will  go  away  to 
day,  believing  all  I  have  said,  and  yet  remain  the 
thouofhtless,  inconsiderate,  worldly  creatures  you  have 
been  heretofore,  unless  God  go  with  you,' unless  God 
impress  the  lesson.  Let  us  not  forget  this  truth.  We 
will  pray.  Join  mc,  all  ye  who  have  an  interest 
there  ;  join  me,  ye  whose  voices  are  heard  in  heaven  ; 
let  our  hearts  be  united  ;  and  we  will  this  day  fill 
many  vials  with  our  prayers,  tliat  God  may  leacli  us 

33 


3S6  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

SO  to  number  our  days  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts 
unto  wisdom.  There  is  a  sleep  on  man,  a  deep 
sleep  and  it  has  all  the  common  properties  of  death, 
its  insensibility,  its  motionlessness,  its  deafness,  and 
there  is  but  one  voice  that  can  wake  it.  Great  and 
o-ood  God,  speak  it;  and  thine  shall  be  all  the  glory, 
while  ours  is  the  happy,  happy  eternity. 


SERMON  XXVIII. 


The  sting  of  death  is  sin. — 1  Corinthians  xv.  56. 


There  is  something  connected  with  death,  yet 
distinct  from  it ;  belonging  to  it,  yet  capable  of  being 
detached  from  it,  which  is  infinitely  worse  arjd  more 
to  be  dreaded  than  death  itself,  so  that  when  it  is  de- 
tached, that  which  remains  is  hardly  deserving  of 
the  name  of  death.  That  to  which  I  refer  is  called 
sometimes  the  bitterness  of  death.  Here,  it  is  called  its 
sting.  To  die,  and  not  taste  that  bitterness;  to  die,  and 
not  feel  that  sting,  is  not  to  die.  "He  that  liveth  and 
believeth  in  me,  shall  never  die."  All  things  are  his, 
who  is  Christ's.  Death  is  his,  equally  as  life.  But 
it  is  not  so  where  the  bitterness  and  sting  remain. 
It  is  his  being  armed  with  such  a  sting,  that  gives 
death  his  power  to  hurt,  and  renders  him  so  formi- 
dable a  foe  ,  and  the  disarming  of  him  in  this  re- 
spect, is  considered  as  victory  over  death,  even 
though  the  conqueror  in  achieving  the  conquest 
dies.  He  is  victorious  in  death  over  death,  even  as, 
in  a  higher  sense,  Christ  was  ;  and  the  language,  in 
which  he  expresses  his  triumph,  is  not,  "Oh  !  death, 
where  art  thou  ?"  for  death  remains,  and  he  feels 
his  cold  hand  on  him  perhaps  even  in  the  moment 
of  his   exulting   exclamation ;    but,    "  Oh  !    death, 


388  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

where  is  thy  sting?"  Where  that  envenomed  pointy 
by  which  thou  hast  power  to  hurt  and  destroy  ?  It 
is  £^one  ;  and  that  is  victory.  He  who  giveth  his 
disciples  this  victory,  could  have  superseded  death 
altogether;  but,  in  his  wisdom,  he  prefers  not  to  do 
it.  He  c'iiooses,  rather  than  to  take  it  entirely  out 
of  their  way,  to  put  it  in  their  power,  and  make  it 
subservient  to  them.  Death  exists  still ;  but  it 
exists  as  theirs. 

The  triumph  which  this  language  expresses,  will 
not,  in  all  its  fullness,  be  realized  till  the  general 
resurrection  of  the  last  day,  when  that  which  is 
sown  in  corruption,  shall  be  raised  in  incnrruption, 
and  this  mortal  put  on  immortality,  these  vile  bodies 
being  changed  and  made  like  to  Christ's  glorious 
body.  Not  until  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall 
come  forth  from  their  graves,  shall  be  fully  brought 
to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  '*  Death  is  swal- 
lowed up  in  victory."  Not  until  then  will  be  sung  in 
full  chorus  this  song,  "  Oh  I  death,  where  is  thy 
sting  ?  Oh  !  o^rave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?"  Then, 
on  that  morning,  the  ten  thousand  times  ten  thou- 
sand and  thousands  of  thousands  of  the  redeemed, 
rising  from  their  mortal  beds,  with  souls  all  pure  and 
bodies  glorious,  shall  strike  together  these  notes  of 
exultation  and  triumph,  "  Oh  !  death,  where  is  thy 
sting?  Oh  !  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?"  Thanks 
be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  '-Unto  him  that  loved  us  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath 
made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  unto  him  be 
glory  and  dominion  forever.      Will  you  be  one  of 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  389 

that  choir  ?  Will  your  heart  share  in  that  joy,  and 
your  voice  mingle  in  that  melody  ? 

Bat  the  victory,  though  not  complete  till  then, 
commences  sooner.  It  commences  in  conversion^ 
when  sin  is  pardoned,  God  pacified  towards  the  sin- 
ner, and  the  dominion  of  sin  in  him  destroyed. 
That  moment  the  sting  of  death  is  taken  away, 
though  the  terror  of  death  may  remain,  and  that  fear 
has  always  torment.  Then  it  loses  not  all  its  power 
to  frighten  the  imperfect  and  unassured  believer,  but 
all  its  power  materially  to  injure  him.  Then  death 
becomes  his  ;  and  ever  after  that  it  is  gain  for  him 
to  die.  Dost  thou  with  all  thy  heart  believe  in  Je- 
sus? Art  thou  through  him  reconciled  to  God  ?  Is 
he,  as  thy  Saviour,  precious  to  thee?  Art  thou  liv- 
ing to  him?  Then  thou  mayest  say,  yea,  sing,  ay 
shout,  "  Oh  !  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?"  It  is  not 
premature  to  strike  this  high  note  even  now.  On 
thy  bed  by  night,  and  all  along  thy  path  by  day, 
this  may  be  thy  song  ;  no  lower  strain  than  this 
need  be  sung  by  thee.  Even  now  when  death  puts 
on  new  terrors,  and  multiplies  his  trophies,  and 
draws  near  with  his  unwonted  weapon,  inspiring 
terror  in  hearts  not  used  to  dread  him,  even  now,  at 
this  time,  when  it  may  be  said,  ''  This  is  the  hour 
and  power  of  death,"  it  is  thy  privilege  to  apostro- 
phise him  in  this  exulting  language,  "  Oh  !  death, 
where  is  thy  sting?"* 

But,  again,  this  victory  is  realized  in  the  death  of 
the  saints,  and  sometimes  most  illnstriously.  MuU 
titudes  in  dying  have  said  and /e/^,  "Oh!  death, 

*  Preached  just  before  the  ravages  of  cholera  in  our  country, 
33* 


390 


where  is  thy  sting  V  No  true  Christian  ever  feels 
the  sting  of  death,  though  some  may  long  and  even 
late  fear  the  feeling  of  it.  "  Is  this  dying  ?"  said  one, 
''  how  have  I  dreaded  as  an  enemy,  this  smihng 
friend  !"  "  If  this  be  the  dark  valley,"  said  another, 
*•  it  is  all  light  to  me.  1  find  no  darkness  in  it."  To 
such  the  bitterness  of  death  is  past  before  they  die. 
I  have  seen  death  with  the  sting,  and  death  without 
the  sting,  and  the  difference  was  greater  than  be- 
tween death  and  life.  The  former  is  indeed  to  be 
dreaded,  death  with  the  sting.  The  latter  has  often 
been  and  should  be  an  object  of  desire.  Death,  with- 
out the  sting,  is  the  soul's  release  from  all  that  has 
annoyed  its  peace,  and  marred  its  beauty,  and  its 
introduction  to  everlasting  life  and  glory. 

But  what  is  the  sting  of  death  7  That  part  of  this 
inexpressibly  sublime  and  glorious  discourse  which 
informs  us  what  it  is,  strikes  me  as  the  finest  part  of 
all,  as  even  sublimer  than  the  apostrophe  to  death, 
as  that  which  crowns  the  climax,  "the  sting  of  death 
is  sin  ;"  and  still  he  rises,  ''and  the  strength  of  sin 
is  the  law  ;"  and  rises  higher,  "  but  thanks  be  to 
God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  This  is  the  point  of  highest  eleva- 
tion ;  and  thence  how  graceful  the  descent,  "  there- 
fore, my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovea- 
ble,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord." 
The  sting  of  death,  that  which  gives  poignancy  and 
power  to  it,  is  sin.  Many  give  a  different  account 
of  the  matter.  If  the  question  were  asked  of  each 
of  you,  "  What  is  the  sting  of  death  ?"  all  would  not 
answer   si7i.     Some   would,  perhaps,   say  that  the 


391 

pain  of  the  conflict  with  the  king  of  terrors,  the 
agony  of  the  dying  strife,  the  mysterious  anguish, 
attendant  on  the  separation  of  soul  and  body,  con- 
stitutes the  sting  of  death  ;  but  it  don't.  Some  have 
said  that  they  cared  for  nothing  but  the  pain  of  death. 
It  is  the  part  of  it  that  is  least  to  be  regarded. 
Sometimes  the  sting  of  death  is  where  the  pain  is 
not ;  and  many  a  painful  death  is  without  the  sting. 
Some  may  suppose  tliat  the  sting  of  death  consists  in 
its  prematurity ;  that  to  die  in  the  days  of  one's 
youth,  to  fade  as  a  flower  of  the  morning,  to  go  and 
leave  all  life's  pleasures  behind,  is  to  fcl  the  sting  of 
death.  But  it  is  not  so,  for  then  all  the  young  would 
feel  the  sting  of  death  ;  whereas  none  more  gloriously 
triumph  over  it  than  some  who  enter  early  into  the 
combat  with  it.  And  it  would  follow,  too,  that  none 
of  the  aged  feel  it ;  whereas  it  is  notorious  that 
many  of  them  do  feel  the  deepest  piercings  of  this 
sting.  It  would  follow  that  time  has  power  to  ex- 
tract it,  which  we  know  is  not  the  case.  Nor,  again, 
is  it  the  suddenness  of  death  that  arms  it  with  a 
sting.  There  is,  indeed,  something  awful  in  being 
summoned  suddenly  und  unwarned  away  from  earth, 
and  time,  and  men,  to  eternity  and  God.  Thure  is 
much  that  is  terrific  in  the  idea  of  being  here  one 
day  in  blooming  health  and  buoyant  spirits,  and  the 
next  day  dead.  But  it  is  awful  to  the  living  rather 
than  to  the  dead.  To  the  prepared,  this  circum- 
stance of  death  is  no  aggravation  of  it.  In  being 
hurried  to  heaven,  there  is  nothing  awful.  Again, 
it  is  not  in  the  power  of  any  particular  disease,  how- 
ever fearful,  to  infix  a  sting  into  death.     Precious  in 


392 

the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints,  what- 
evv^r  be  the  mode  of  their  death.  Some  of  the  most 
glorious  servants  of  God  have  fallen  victims  to  pesti- 
lence. The  Christian  need  not  fear  to  die  any  kind 
of  death.  Death  even  b}^  cholera  is  gain  to  the 
Christian. 

It  is  not  the  disappointment  occasioned  by  death 
that  constitutes  its  sting.  To  be  called  away  from 
the  midst  of  every  thing  which  can  make  earth 
agreeable  and  life  desirable,  from  domestic  happiness 
and  worldly  prosperity  is  not  always  to  be  stung  by 
death.  Nor  is  the  sting  of  death  the  thought  of  leav- 
ing behind  a  family  helpless  and  unprotected,  for  it 
is  the  privilege  of  some  who  have  to  do  that,  to  leave 
all  to  God.  To  his  care  and  providence  they  can  con- 
fidently commit  them,  assured  that  no  charge  which 
his  saints  commit  to  him,  will  he  fail  to  assume. 

No  ;  not  any  one  of  these  is  the  sting  of  death  ; 
but  sin  is  the  sting  of  death.  There  would  be  no 
death  but  for  sin.  Sin  is  the  cause  of  death,  and  no 
wonder  it  should  be  its  sting  also.  To  prove  that 
sin  is  the  sting  of  death,  just  consider  what  death 
would  be  without  sin,  if  it  may  be  supposed  to  exist 
without  it.  There  would  be  no  darkness  attached 
to  it.  The  light  of  the  divine  countenance  makes 
it  perpetual  sunshine  wherever  sin  is  not.  There 
would  be  no  unwillingness  to  die  ;  but  a  ready  and 
perfect  submission  in  this  as  in  every  thing  to  the 
will  of  God.  Even  now  to  the  imperfect  Christian, 
how  easy  is  death,  when  he  can  say  with  his  whole 
heart,  "  Thy  will  be  done."  He  is  willing  that  God 
should  determine  the  time,  the  manner,  the  circum- 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  393 

Stances,  ev^ery  thing.  In  his  judgment  it  matters 
little,  how,  when,  or  where  he  dies,  so  he  but  die  in 
the  faith  and  [lope  of  the  Gospel  and  sleep  in  Jesus. 
There  would  be  but  for  sin  in  every  case  of  death  a 
divine  fortitude  supporting  the  subject  of  it.  The 
everlasting  arms  would  be  underneath,  and  every 
one  coming  to  the  entrance  of  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  would  be  able  to  say,  "Though  I 
walk  through  it,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with 
me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me."  Who 
cannot  go  any  where  without  fear,  if  the  presence  of 
God  go  with  him  ?  Who  can  fear  evil  with  omnipo- 
tence to  shield  him  from  it  ?  It  is  no  matter  what  are 
our  burdens  and  our  trials,  if  the  promise  "My  grace 
is  sufficient  for  you,"  be  fulfilled  to  us.  A  poor  wo- 
man recently  died  in  this  city  of  a  most  painful  dis- 
ease, who  said  that  her  days  of  greatest  bodily  an- 
guish were  her  happiest  days  ;  for  that  then  her  spi- 
ritual consolations  most  abounded,  and  she  desired 
no  alleviation  of  her  pain,  because  in  proportion  to  her 
pain,  was  her  joy  in  God.  There  would  be  no  iin~ 
certainty  as  to  the  result  of  death,  but  tor  sin.  It  is 
sin  that  causes  doubts  and  fears  ;  but  for  it,  the  dying 
person  would  have  the  fullest  assurance  of  immedi- 
ate and  unspeakable  glory  as  awaiting  him.  He 
would  know  that  to  die  is  gain.  In  dying  he  would 
feel  all  the  while  how  much  better  it  is  to  depart  and 
be  with  Christ.  If  for  a  moment  his  thoughts  should 
be  drawn  to  this  world,  the  superior  attractions  of 
heaven  would  immediately  draw  them  back  to  it.  He 
would  forget  what  he  is  going  from,  in  the  thought 
of  what  he  is  going  to.     There  would  be  no  distip- 


394  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

pointraent  in  death  but  for  sin  ;  no  sense  of  loss,  no 
anguish  of  bereavement,  no  wishful  looking  back  to 
life.  The  soul  would  have  nothing  to  fear  from 
God,  but  for  sin  ;  no  wrath  to  dread,  no  curse  to  bear, 
and  judgment  would  be  no  terror  to  it.  There  would 
be  nothing  but  the  mere  pain  of  dying,  but  for  sin. 
Then  is  not  sin  the  sting  of  death? 

All  that  I  have  said  of  the  person  supposed  to  be 
without  sin,  is  substantially  true  of  every  Christian, 
for  though  he  be  not  perfectly -free  from  sin  in  every 
sense,  he  is  free  from  its  curse,  and  from  its  dominion. 
He  is  pardoned,  he  is  no  longer  a  child  of  wrath. 
God  is  favorable  to  him,  and  sin  does  not  reign  in 
his  mortal  body.  The  light  of  the  divine  counte- 
nance shines  on  him.  He  is  willing,  ay,  sometimes 
desirous  to  die.  The  everlasting  arms  are  under 
him,  and  he  knows  that  heaven  is  his  in  prospect. 
He  knows  where  he  is  going,  and  even  the  judgment 
has  no  terrors  for  him,  since  the  very  judge  is  his 
retained  advocate  and  friend.  To  die  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin  forgiven,  of  holiness  begun,  of  God 
reconciled,  and  of  heaven  in  reserve  is  to  die  and  feel 
no  sting  in  death.  Oh  !  may  you  so  die  ;  drink  the 
cup,  and  expect  no  bitterness  or  be  disappointed  in 
the  expectation  ;  die,  saying,  "Oh  !  death,  where  is 
thy  sting?"  The  sting:  of  death  is  sin,  my  hearers. 
It  is,  depend  upon  it,  it  is.  Contemplate  death  at- 
tended by  sin,  and  judge  for  yourself. 

See  there  the  sinner  dying.  He  is  unwilling  to 
die,  loth  to  leave  the  world  ;  he  hangs  back  and  has 
to  be  driven  away.  There  is  no  submission,  or  it  is 
a  forced  submission  as  to  an  inevitable  necessity.     It 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  395 

were  strange  if  he  were  willing;  willing  to  go  from 
what  he  knows  and  loves,  to  that  which  he  has  nei- 
ther knowledge  of,  nor  love  for ;  to  go  from  his  por- 
tion and  his  treasure,  and  his  loved  resorts,  and  his 
favorite  occupations,  and  his  dear  companions,  and 
to  carry  nothing  with  him,  and  to  find  nothing  where 
he  goes,  that  he  can  call  his  own  ;  to  go  to  a  trial 
which  he  has  made  no  preparation  to  meet,  and  to 
an  interview  with  the  being  whose  acquaintance  he 
has  never  cared  to  cultivate  ;  no  wonder  he  is  unwil- 
ling. Ah,  there  is  someting  piercing  and  poignant 
in  this,  to  be  forced  to  die  and  go  we  know  not  where. 
He  cannot  say  "Oh  death,  where  is  thy  sting?"  for 
here  it  is,  penetrating  his  very  soul.  Again,  the  sin- 
ner dying,  so  far  from  having  an  assurance  of  being 
a  gainer  by  death,  fears,  if  he  is  not  certain  that  he 
will  be  a  loser  by  it.  Whither  shall  he  go  ?  To 
heaven?  He  has  no  title  to  it.  His  sins  are  unfor- 
given,  he  has  no  part  in  the  justifying  righteousness 
of  Christ.  He  has  no  fitness  for  it.  he  is  consciously 
destitute  of  that  holiness,  without  which  he  is  inad- 
missible to  it.  He  has  no  liking  for  it.  Its  joys  are 
not  such  as  he  relishes.  Its  society  not  such  as  he 
would  select.  He  cannot  go  to  heaven  ;  nor  would 
he.  And  there  is  but  one  other  place  ;  and  there  is 
weeping,  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  How  is  he 
to  gain  by  dying?  Again,  hi  dying  the  sinner  has 
not  the  enlivening  presence  of  God  with  him,  he 
hears  not  his  cheering  voice,  feels  not  his  supporting 
arms.  He  is  left  to  die  alone.  Again,  his  conscience 
is  full  of  fearful  forebodings,  in  view  of  that  meeting 
to  which  he  is  going,  and  that  judgment  to  wliose 


396  NEVINS'   SERMONS. 

scrutiny  he  is  to  be  subjected.  There  is  guilt  upon 
his  conscience,  which  the  blood  of  Christ  has  not 
removed.  He  is  goino-  into  the  presence  of  him 
whose  law  he  has  transgressed,  whose  government 
he  has  rebelled  against,  and  whose  Gospel  he  has 
not  embraced.  He  goes  unpardoned,  impenitent, 
with  this  malediction  upon  him,  '' cursed  is  every- 
one who  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law  to  do  them."  He  is  going  to  give 
account,  and  he  has  nothing  to  say  fdr  himself,  and 
he  has  no  merit  of  another  to  plead. 

The  sting  of  death  is  sin.  And  the  strength  of  sin 
is  the  law.  Sin  derives  its  power  to  pierce  and  de- 
stroy from  the  fact  of  its  being  a  transgression  of  the 
law  of  God. 

But  thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
throuo:h  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  do  not  achieve 
the  victory.  God  gives  it  to  us,  and  through  Christ, 
of  whom  we  have  pardon  for  sin  and  peace  of  con- 
science. 

Learn  hence  what  it  is  of  death  that  is  most  to  be 
dreaded  ;  it  is  its  sting. 

Do  we  dread  death  itself,  how  much  more  should 
we  its  sting,  sin. 

Learn  hence  how  the  sting  of  death  is  to  be  remo- 
ved. It  is  by  doing  away  with  sin  ;  repenting  of  it 
and  obtaining  pardon  for  it,  by  application  to  Christ. 

Is  this  religion  to  be  despised  ? 

Learn  also  that  sin  is  no  trifle.  It  is  the  sting  of 
death. 

They  that  make  a  mock  of  sin,  and  trifle  with 
the  law  of  God,  play  with  the  sting  of  death. 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  397 

See  here  the  preeminence  of  the  Christian.  He  is 
the  conqueror  of  death.  He  is  superior  to  the  kin^ 
of  terrors.  We  hear  of  the  hero  of  Marengo,  and  of 
Waterloo  ;  and  the  Christian  is  the  hero  of  the  ^rave. 
He  can  say,  "  Oh  !  death,  where  is  thy  sting  7  Oh  ! 
grave  where  is  thy  victory  ?" 

Can  you  say  it  ?  Can  you  say,  '^  Thanks  to  God, 
who  has  given  me  the  victory  ?"  Do  you,  instead  of 
answering  my  question,  ask  me,  ''  Can  you  ?"  I  will 
not  say,  yes  or  no,  but  I  will,  if  you  will,  this  day 
adopt  a  joint  resolution  of  this  sort,  "Resolved  that, 
with  the  help  of  God,  we  will  never  rest,  never  cease 
to  pray,  and  labor,  until  we  are  able  confidently  to 
adopt  this  language  of  triumph." 

Do  not  despair  of  being  able  to  say,  ''  Oh  !  death, 
where  is  thy  sting."  Hearer,  you  may,  sooner  than 
you  imagine,  be  engaged  with  death.  One  that  but 
a  few  Sabbaths  ago  was  here,  has  met  with  the  ene- 
my. The  campaign  lasted  but  one  short  week. 
Are  you  armed  for  this  inevitable  combat?  Is  your 
enemy  disarmed  of  his  sting,  so  that  he  can  do  no 
more  than  kill  the  body  ?  Is  that  sting  by  which 
he  reaches  the  soul  taken  away  ? 


34 


SERMON    XXIX. 


That  he  might  go  to  his  own  place. — Acts  i.  25. 


One  cannot  help  observing  and  admiring  the  uni- 
form and  apparently  studied  reserv^e  which  the  sacred 
writers  maintain  in  reference  to  the  eternal  condi- 
tion of  persons  who  may  be  presumed  to  have  died 
in  their  sins.  In  speaking  of  characters  and  classes 
of  persons,  all  reserve  is  laid  aside.  It  is  uniformly 
and  explicitly  said  that  those  of  mankind  who  an- 
swer to  a  certain  intelligible  description,  shall  go  to 
the  place  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels. 
"  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the 
nations  that  forget  God.  Except  ye  repent  ye  shall 
all  likewise  perish."  Declarations  to  the  same  effect 
are  innumerable.  This  is  the  law^  and  in  regard  to 
the  matter  oifact,  I  suppose  it  is  not  doubted  by  any 
one,  that  multitudes  do  forget  God,  and  do  never  re- 
pent and  turn  to  him.  Certainly  many  die  without 
giving  the  smallest  evidence  of  having  repented. 
The  inference  therefore  to  which  we  are  inevitably 
conducted  is,  that  many  perish.  Indeed  so  much 
our  Saviour  himself  asserts,  rendering  it  unnecessary 
for  us  to  infer  it.  He  says  of  the  gate  which  opens  to 
destruction,  "  Many  there  be  which  go  in  thereat." 
But  neither  he  nor  those  who  wrote  as  they  were 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  399 

moved  by  his  Spirit,  speak  in  the  same  unreserved 
and  decided  manner  of  the  fate  of  individuals  ;  and 
not  because  they  might  not  often  do  it,  but  because 
they  have  no  heart  to  do  it.  They  would  not  draw- 
aside  the  veil  which  conceals  from  us  the  place  of 
torment,  and  let  us  see  the  individuals  who  occupy 
it.  It  is  enough  that  they  assure  us  that  there  is 
such  a  place  and  who  are  exposed  to  it ;  and  that 
many  are  there  ;  and  we  ourselves  shall  be  except 
we  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  Gospel.  There  is 
a  tenderness  due  even  to  the  soul  that  is  lost  forever. 
Everlasting  punishment  is  too  dreadful  an  evil,  to 
have  any  particular  name  connected  with  it  in  our 
thoughts.  Men  should  learn  from  this  silence  of  the 
sacred  writers,  the  lesson  never  to  speak  with  a  cruel 
and  careless  positiveness  of  the  eternal  fate  of  indi- 
viduals, whatever  may  be  their  thoughts  respecting 
them. 

There  is  no  exception  that  occurs  to  me  now  to 
the  remark  I  have  made.  The  case  of  the  rich  man 
in  the  parable,  is  not ;  for  though  undoubtedly  that 
has  been  the  fate  of  many  an  ungodly  man  of  wealth, 
yea  of  every  one,  if  ungodly,  yet  we  do  not  suppose 
that  our  Saviour  had  any  particular  man  in  view, 
certainly  no  one  that  was  known  to  his  audience. 
Even  with  respect  to  that  individual,  in  whose  case 
one  would  think  all  reserve  might  have  been  laid 
aside,  the  same  rule  seems  to  be  observed.  Christ 
does  indeed  say  of  him,  "  It  had  been  better  for  that 
man  if  he  had  not  been  born,"  and  when  we  view 
this  in  connection  with  his  character  and  his  end,  it 
justifies  the  gloomiest  forebodings  concerning  him. 


400 


But  it  may  be  said  that  that  was  but  a  jJ'^overhial 
form  of  speech,  appUcable  to  any  great  transgressor, 
and  not  intended  to  preclude  the  possibihty  of  future 
repentance.  And  again,  the  passage  which  I  make 
my  text  to-day  may  be  adduced  as  designating  une- 
quivocally whither  Judas  went  when  he  died ;  and 
so  it  has  been  generally  understood.  It  does  indeed 
declare  whither  he  went ;  and  I  suppose  there  cannot 
be  much  doubt  by  what  name  that  place  should  be 
called,  which  received  him  who  robbed  and  betrayed 
his  Lord  and  master  ;  nay,  who  having  done  that,  felt 
no  other  repentance  for  it  but  that  which  brought 
forth  self  murder  ;  but  the  writer  does  not  give  it  a 
name.  There  is  an  ambiguity  in  the  manner  of 
speaking  which  is  very  instructive  and  very  impres- 
sive too  ;  "  to  his  own  place  f  it  is  not  said  to  what 
place,  to  heaven  or  to  hell,  but  to  his  own  place,  the 
place  suitable  to  him,  congenial  to  his  character  and 
kindred  to  his  spirit ;  the  place  for  which  he  was 
fitted  and  where  it  was  right  and  proper  he  should 
go,  if  it  was  heaven,  he  went  to  heaven ;  if  to  hell, 
he  went  to  hell ;  he  went  to  his  own  place,  says  the 
sacred  penman,  and  there  leaves  it. 

He  says  no  more  of  Judas  than  might  have  been  said 
of  John  or  any  other ;  no  more  than  may  be  said  of  all, 
of  every  character.  All  who  have  died,  have  gone 
to  their  own  place  ;  and  we  who  live,  shall  die  and 
go  to  our  own  place  ;  if  it  be  heaven,  we  shall  go  to 
heaven  ;  if  it  be  hell,  we  shall  go  to  that  place.  God 
will  assort  us  with  an  unerring  regard  to  propriety. 
He  will  make  no  mistake.  He  will  locate  no  one  un- 
suitably ;  but  each  shall  be  determined  to  his  proper 


401 

place.  One  great  object  of  the  public  judgment  of 
the  last  day  will  be  to  assign  to  each  of  the  innumer- 
able souls  assembled,  his  proper  place  for  eternity, 
and  to  justify  to  all  intelligent  spectators  of  the  trans- 
action, the  propriety  of  each  particular  assignment. 
It  is  done  in  substance  as  each  one  dies.  The  rich 
man  went  to  his  own  place  and  Lazarus  to  his  imme- 
diately on  their  decease.  The  day  of  judgment  is 
appointed  for  the  public  doing  of  the  same  thing  with 
reference  to  body  and  soul  both,  and  for  the  public 
manifestation  of  the  rectitude  of  the  doing. 

This  is  a  mixed  state.  Here  we  are  all  together, 
however  dissimilar  our  character,  however  unlike  our 
spirits.  Earth  is  adapted  to  us  all,  as  affording  sup- 
plies and  gratifications  for  the  animal  nature  we  all 
have  in  common  ;  and  as  constituting  also  a  fit  field 
for  the  exercise  of  our  common  powers,  and  the  for- 
mation and  display  of  character.  The  same  trials 
are  suitable  to  prove  men  of  the  most  opposite  char- 
acter. 

And  yet,  though  here  we  live  together  not  only  in 
the  same  world,  but  in  the  same  house  it  may  be, 
albeit  so  unlike  in  character  and  destination,  even 
here  the  separation  begins.  Kindred  spirits  are  at- 
tracted to  each  other.  They  that  fear  the  Lord  meet 
together  and  speak  often  one  to  another  ;  and  so  do 
they  who  fear  not  the  Lord.  We  have  our  separate 
objects  of  desire  and  delight,  and  our  separate  places 
of  resort,  and  separate  topics  of  thought  and  con- 
versation. Our  souls  are  drawn  in  different  direc- 
tions. And  we  often  feel  how  uncongenial  we  are 
to  each  other.  We  are  near  to  each  other  in  body, 
34* 


402  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

but  a  wide  interval  separates  our  souls.  Now  this 
separation  here  begun,  will  hereafter  be  made  per- 
fect and  abiding.  Here  we  are,  as  it  were,  feehng, 
looking  for  our  places.  There  we  shall  all  find  our 
places  ;  and  we  shall  be  fixed  in  them  immoveably, 
unalterably,  forever. 

This  subject  is  important,  as  every  one  must  see  on 
the  bare  statement  of  it ;  and  it  is  appropriate  to  all.  I 
preach  to-day  for  the  benefit  of  my  own  soul,  as  well  as 
that  of  each  of  you.  And  the  view  we  are  led  to  take 
to-day  of  the  future  state  of  the  soul,  must,  I  think 
commend  itself  as  singularly  reasonable  to  every 
mind.  I  remind  you  that  you  are  in  a  progress  ; 
you  need  only  to  be  reminded  of  it ;  you  know, 
you  see,  by  other  objects,  and  you  feel  that  you  are 
going,  and  you  know  whence,  from  earth.  And 
can  you  be  indifferent  whither?  Whither  tendeth 
the  immortal  Spirit  within  you,  and  whither  it  shall 
go,  when  this,  which  is  made  of  clay  shall  no  longer 
confine  and  clog  that  which  was  breathed  frop  God. 
Whither  ?  You  care  whither.  I  am  sure  you  do. 
Now  T  tell  you  ;  and  I  do  not  say  you  are  going  to 
heaven  or  to  hell,  though  to  one  or  the  other,  I  know, 
I  do  say  you  are  going,  for  there  are  to  us  but  three 
places  in  the  universe  :  earth,  heaven,  and  hell ;  and 
earth  you  are  going  from.  But  I  say  not  to  which 
you  are  going.  I  leave  that  for  you  to  say  when 
you  shall  have  heard  what  I  have  to  say,  and  have 
reflected  upon  yourself  I  say  you  are  going  to 
your  own  place.  You  are  going  where  your  soul 
now  tendeth  ;  to  the  world  that  hath  new  attractions 
for  you.     You  are  going  just  where  you  ought  to 


403 

go ;  to  the  place  which  is  kindred  and  congenial  to 
your  present  feelings  and  affections  ;  to  the  state 
and  society  for  which  your  soul  is  now  in  the  pro- 
gress of  being  prepared.  Is  it  not  so  ?  and  ought  it 
not  to  be  so?  If  it  be  so,  ah  !  then,  we  are  not  all 
going  to  the  same  place.  And  there  is  a  place  yon- 
der, above,  to  which  we  are  sure  some  are  not  going, 
for  it  is  not  their  place.  Their  thoughts  are  not  upon 
it,  their  desires  are  not  towards  it,  their  efforts  are 
not  to  reach  it ;  heaven,  heaven,  ah  !  are  there 
not  those  here  who  think  not  of  that  as  home  7 
Earth  is  their  home ;  but  they  must  seek  another. 

We  see  that  each  soul  is  going  to  its  own  place. 
And  now  the  business  is  for  every  one  to  inquire 
and  ascertain  what  is  his  own,  his  proper  place. 
And,  methinks,  it  should  interest  every  one  ;  for  the 
inquiry  is,  where  you  are  to  be  forever,  in  what  cir- 
cumstances and  in  what  condition,  your  conscious 
and  sensitive  spirit  is  to  be  during  eternity  ?  There 
are  but  two  places,  heaven,  hell.  One  of  them  is 
yours.  I  say  not,  loill  he  yours,  but  is  already  yours ; 
suited  to  you,  congenial,  for  which  you  are  fitting. 
Which  is  it  ?  Perhaps,  when  you  contemplate  hell, 
you  say,  "Surely  that  is  not  my  place ;  there  is  nothing 
congenial  to  me  there  ;  I  cannot  be  going  thither." 
Why  not  ?  Whose  place  is  that  but  the  place  of  those 
who  do  not  love,  do  not  worship  and  obey,  do  not 
desire  and  delight  in  the  great  and  glorious  God  ? 
And  is  not  the  place  of  such  your  place  ?  It  is  a 
matter  of  little  moment  in  what  way  you  may  have 
manifested  your  want  of  love  and  of  regard  to  the 
authority  of  God.     The  fallen  angels  show  their  en- 


404 

mity  in  one  manner  ;  some  sinners  of  the  human 
family  in  one  way,  and  some  in  a  less  odious  and 
offensive  form.  That  place  is  for  all  who  show  it 
in  any  way.  It  is  for  all  who  do  not  choose  the  ser- 
vice and  do  the  will  of  God  and  aim  at  the  glory  of 
God.  It  is  for  all  un regenerate  persons  ;  all  impeni- 
tent sinners.  It  is  their  place.  Is  it  not  yours  then  ? 
But  what  if,  when  you  look  into  the  unfathomable 
abyss  of  ruin  and  woe,  you  think  that  surely  cannot 
be  your  place.  Take  another  view.  Contemplate 
heaven ;  consider  what  description  the  Bible  has  given 
of  it ;  and  consider  what  a  place  it  must  be,  since 
God  is  there  and  Jesus  Christ,  and  holy  angels  and 
human  saints.  Think  what  a  place  they  must  make 
it ;  what  a  character  such  society  must  give  to  heaven. 
And  can  you  say  that  that  is  your  place  7  Can  you 
think  that  you  are  going  thither?  Is  your  soul  at- 
tracted thitherward  ?  Do  you  now  love  and  delight 
in  communion  with  God ;  in  prayer  and  praise  al- 
ternate ?  And,  if  you  are  not  going  thither,  whither 
mast  you  be  going,  when  there  is  only  one  other 
place  ? 

Do  you  stand  in  doubt  as  to  whether  heaven  is 
your  place  or  not?  You  can  easily  come  at  the 
truth,  if  you  have  the  courage  to  face  it.  There  is 
heaven,  and  what  sort  of  a  place  it  is,  the  Bible  tells 
you.  And  there  is  your  heart,  your  spirit,  which 
you  may  know  so  far  as  to  ascertain  whether  the  one 
is  suited  to  the  other.  See,  and  then  honestly  say, 
if  you  think  it  is  in  heaven  to  make  your  heart 
happy.  Would  your  soul  find  rest  there  ?  Not  un- 
less it  is  now  in  motion  thither.     Nothing  can  natu- 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  405 

rally  rest  in  any  place  to  which  it  was  not  before 
naturally  inclined  to  move.  I  wish  you  would  think 
of  this,  my  hearers,  that  nothing  can  satisfy  a  soul, 
for  which  that  soul  has  not  previously  some  desire. 
Do  not  think  that  heaven  will  satisfy  you,  ye  who 
desire  not  heaven.  You  can  never  repose  contented 
and  complacently  hi  God,  unless  first  you  long  after 
him. 

Observe  I  do  not  ask  you  of  whom  you  were  born, 
whether  of  parents  godly  or  ungodly,  and  whether  ye 
were  baptised,  and  to  what  church  you  belong,  though 
you  should  belong  to  some,  or  whether  you  profess  faith 
in  Christ,  though  certainly  you  should  not  only  be  for 
him,  but  should  declare  for  him,  nor  do  I  ask  you 
any  questions  about  external  things  and  the  ceremo- 
nial of  religion,  though  as  God's  commands  extend 
to  those  things,  our  obedience  should,  and  nothing 
is  unimportant  which  he  has  commanded  ;  but  these 
are  not  the  turning  points,  the  decisive  questions. 
The  great  matter  is  to  ascertain  whether  there  is 
now  in  part,  and  whether  there  is  getting  to  be  in 
perfection  a  moral  adaptedness  of  your  soul  to  hea- 
ven ;  for  if  there  is  not,  there  would  be  no  use  in  your 
going  to  heaven,  even  were  liberty  of  entrance  allow- 
ed you  ;  even  in  that  rest,  your  soul  would  be  rest- 
less, and  hungry  in  the  midst  of  all  that  plenty,  and 
dark  in  that  excess  of  brightness,  and  lonely  and  sad 
even  in  that  abundance  of  most  cheerful  society. 
God  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power  and  resources  can- 
not make  you  happy,  but  by  first  adapting  your  soul 
to  be  made  happy  by  him.  And  now  I  ask,  is  it 
receiving  that  adaptation?     Oh  !  do  be  honest  with 


408 

yourselves  in  this  matter.  Do  yourselves  justice. 
What  does  he  gain  who  cheats  himself  ?  Is  heaven 
your  place  ?  Can  those  who  are  without  God  in  the 
world,  be  going  to  be  loith  him  forever  ?  Can  you 
who  now  indulge  yourselves  in  the  pleasures  of  sin, 
be  going  to  the  delights  of  holiness  '?  If  there  be  any 
here  to  whom  the  Sabbath  is  a  weariness,  a  tedious 
uninteresting  day,  which  they  know  not  how  to  get 
along  with  without  desecrating  it,  is  the  place  of  the 
eternal  Sabbath  theirs?  is  it  not  to  be  feared  that  they 
are  going  to  the  place  where  there  is  no  distinction  of 
days  and  no  day  of  rest  ?  If  there  be  any  who  stand 
aloof  from  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  cannot  even 
bear  the  sight  of  the  sacramental  preparation,  does  it 
look  as  if  they  were  going  to  the  place  where  Jesus 
will  forever  sit  and  sup  with  his  disciples  ?  Do  those 
who  say  it  is  so  long-  and  so  dull,  never  reflect  on 
the  duration  of  forever  ?  of  the  proportion  of  two 
hours  to  eternity  ?  Do  they  never  think  how  long 
that  will  be  to  be  in  hell,  or  even  to  be  in  heaven,  if 
one  is  not  fitted  for  heaven.  I  wonder  how  they 
who  can  hardly  get  through  a  day,  will  be  able  to 
dispose  of  immortality.  Let  no  one  suppose  from 
the  remarks  I  am  now  making,  that  heaven  is  a  place 
of  dullness,  and  tedium  and  gloom.  It  is  the  very 
opposite  of  that.  There  all  is  interest  and  cheerful- 
ness, smile,  and  song,  and  joy,  brightness  around 
and  buoyancy  within  ;  never  a  tear  or  a  sigh  ;  nor 
weariness,  nor  satiety.  Do  you  sometimes  wonder 
what  there  should  be  in  heaven  to  make  men  happy  ? 
I  can  tell  you.  There  is  the  Maker  of  all  you  see 
here,  and  of  yourself  too  ;  the  author  and  archetype 


NEVINS'    SERMONS.  407 

of  all  that  is  beautiful  and  grand  in  nature.  There 
are  the  infinite  perfections  and  the  inexhaustible  re- 
sources of  the  great  and  blessed  God,  known,  seen  and 
felt  to  be  our  God.  He  has  the  will  and  he  has  the 
power  to  make  his  children  happy  ;  and  he  has  said 
that  he  will  do  it.  Why,  it  is  he  who  is  now  making 
thee  as  happy  as  thou  art,  in  this  world  which  he 
made  for  thee.  And  cannot  he  make  his  children, 
happy  with  himself  7  Ah,  some  of  you  feel  as  if  you 
would  at  once  lose  all  your  happiness,  if  you  should 
betake  yourselves  to  God.  What,  when  it  is  he  who 
is  affording  you  now  that  very  happiness  which  you 
are  afraid  of  losing,  by  the  medium  of  one  of  the 
smallest  portions  of  his  works  7  Can  you  think  that 
you  would  be  a  loser  by  relinquishing  the  world,  for 
God  and  the  universe  7  Ah,  1  sometimes  reflect  with 
myself,  what  must  not  God  have  prepared  in  heaven 
for  them  that  love  him ;  when  he  has  prepared  so  much 
on  earth  for  those  who  do  not  love  him ;  scattered  so 
much  good  over  it,  that  you  are  loth  to  leave  it  even 
forheaven,  and  communicated  so  many  attractions  and 
charms  to  it,  that  it  has  quite  weaned  your  hearts  from 
himself  I  would  ask  you,  cannot  God  make  heaven 
a  most  desirable  and  happy  place  7  And  will  he  not  7 
But  I  digress ;  the  question  is,  is  it  your  place  7  Are 
you  heavenly  minded?  Are  you  disposed  to  the 
kind  of  employment  which  occupies  heavenly  beings? 
Are  you  fond  of  that  sort  of  society  ?  Are  those  the 
things  in  which  your  heart  delights  itself?  Your 
business  lies  within  a  narrow  compass.  It  is  nigh 
thee,  even  in  thy  heart.  Look  there,  and  see  where 
thy   heart   points,  if  to  heaven,   that  is  thy  place. 


408 

Thou  art  going  thither,  whither  already  thy  thoughts 
and  affections  are  tending  ;  where  even  now  as  much 
of  thy  soul  is,  as  can  be,  while  it  is  in  connection 
with  the  body.  But  is  that  the  bearing  of  thy  heart  ? 
that  the  direction  of  the  index  within  thee  ?  If  it  be 
not,  then  let  not  any  thing  which  I  say,  or  any  thing 
thou  readest,  alarm  thee,  but  let  what  thou  seest  upon 
the  face  of  thy  heart  alarm  thee.  1  desire  not  that 
any  soul  should  even  be  alarmed,  unless  that  soul 
find  causes  of  alarm  within  himself  If  all  is  well 
there,  all  is  well  every  where.  If  conscience  is  satis- 
fied (I  say  not  seared,)  God  is  satisfied.  There  is 
nothing  threatens  thee  from  without,  unless  some- 
thing threatens  thee  from  within.  Oh  !  there  are 
things  that  appall  you,  which  need  not,  the  horrid 
front  of  the  advancing  king  of  terrors,  the  prospect  of 
the  dark  and  dreary  valley  hito  which  life  goes  down, 
the  thought  of  the  grave  and  the  final  separation, 
and  the  meeting  with  God,  and  the  last  trial,  and  the 
terrific  pomp  of  the  great  day  of  God,  no :  none 
of  these  natural  terrors.  But  if  thou  find  in  thy  heart 
no  love  to  God,  no  longing  after  him,  no  delight  in 
him,  no  care  for  connection  with  him,  no  tender  af- 
fection for  Jesus  Christ,  no  fond  remembrance  of  him, 
no  heavenliness,  let  that  appall  thee  ;  for  thy  danger 
is  thence.  Hearer,  I  would  ask  thee,  are  there  no 
causes  of  alarm  within  thee  ?  Search  and  see  ;  what 
fmdest  thou  ?  If  no  worse  spirit,  yet  dost  thou  not 
find  there,  a  prevailing  worldiness?  If  th®u  dost,  it 
is  settled.  If  the  love  of  the  world  is  there,  the  love 
of  the  Father  is  not.  Paul  says  that  the  end  of  those 
who  mind  earthly  things  is  destruction.     Art  thou  a 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  409 

man  of  discord,  a  mischief  maker,  a  stirrer  up  of 
strife,  and  dost  think  thou  art  going  to  the  world  of 
harmony.  Canst  thou  not  love  thy  brother  or  thy 
sister,  and  canst  thou  be  going  where  all  love  each 
other  ;  to  that  grand  concert  of  hearts,  whence  as 
from  one  living  instrument  goeth  forth  the  music  of 
the  soul  to  God?  Canst  thou  not  forgive,  and  how 
should  that  be  thy  place  where  each  of  the  immense 
assembly  acknowledges  the  remission  of  ten  thousand 
talents?  I  ask  you  but  another  question.  Is  Jesus 
Christ  so  high  and  so  dear  in  thy  esteem,  and  dost 
thou  feel  so  beholden  to  him,  and  so  thankful,  that 
thou  couldst  to-day,  wert  thou  taken  to-day,  join  thy 
voice  to  that  of  the  many  angels  round  about  the 
throne,  and  the  multitude  of  the  redeemed  there,  in 
saying,  "Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  re- 
ceive power  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength, 
and  honor,  and  glory,  and  blessing;"  or  tliis,  "Unto 
him  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in 
his  own  blood,  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  for 
ever."     Is  that  your  place  ? 

There  are  those  who,  by  the  considerations  pre- 
sented, would  be  alarmed  but  for  the  hope  of  a  future 
change  of  heart,  which  shall  adapt  them  to  heaven. 
They  acknowledge  that  heaven  is  not  now  their 
place,  but  they  trust  it  will  be  ;  that  God,  by  his 
grace,  will  make  it  theirs,  if  not  sooner,  yet  in  death. 
This  relieves  them.  Many  have  a  vague  expecta- 
tion of  something  wonderful  that  death  is  going  !o 
do  for  them  in  the  way  of  preparing  them  for  heaven. 
But  what  is  there  in  death  to  sanctify  and  fit  a  soul 

35 


410 

for  heaven  ?  What  in  the  simple  separation  of  the 
soul  from  the  body,  to  affect  its  spiritual  wickedness, 
and  to  destroy  in  it  the  dominion  of  such  things  as 
pride,  anger,  malice,  revenge  and  the  like?  There  is 
nothing  alterative  in  death.  But  the  person  per- 
haps does  not  expect  the  change  to  be  wrought  by 
death,  but  by  God  at  death.  Why  then^  I  ask, 
and  who  can  answer  it?  Why  then  7  Why  should 
he  effect  that  change  then,  rather  than  at  any  given 
point  in  the  progress  of  life  ?  Life  is  the  period  for 
this  change  ;  and  others  are  changed  in  life.  What 
should  render  it  more  probable  that  God  will  inter- 
pose in  the  liour  of  death,  than  in  any  other  hour  ? 
There  is  much  in  a  dying  scene  to  move  our  com- 
passions ;  but  nothing  to  affect  God's  peculiarly. 
He  will  never  pity  any  one  of  you  more  than  now 
he  does  ;  never  can  be  better  disposed  to  your  salva- 
tion than  now.  He  sees  the  case  now  in  all  its  di- 
mensions. It  will  develope  hereafter  nothing  new 
to  him.  At  this  very  moment  his  eye  is  on  you, 
looking  not  observation  merely,  but  interest  and  af- 
fection ;  ai'id  his  arms,  which  embrace  the  universe, 
are  extended  towards  you,  and  his  voice  in  reason's 
ear  is  heard  saying,  "  Why  will  ye  die  ?"  Parents, 
when  they  bend  over  their  dying  childen,  whose 
souls  they  have  neglected,  will  feel  more  than  they 
do  now ;  and  pastors  will  feel  more  ;  but  God  will 
never  feel  more  for  you  than  he  does  now.  Even 
now  does  he  not  open  his  heart  and  ofler  every  sin- 
ner a  place  and  perpetual  home  there  ?  And  this 
moment  there  is  but  one  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any 
man's  salvation,  and  that  is  his  own  will.     Make  no 


411 


calculation  on  any  impression  which  you  may  here- 
after be  able  to  make  on  God. 

By  the  light  which  this- subject  sheds,  we  see, 

1.  Why  regeneration  is  necessary.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  adapt  the  soul  to  heaven  ;  to  make  heaven 
our  place. 

2.  We  see  also  from  the  nature  of  the  necessity, 
that  it  is  a  change  which  cannot  be  dispensed  with. 
"  Ye  must  be  born  again." 

3.  We  see  w^hat  it  is  which  ought  to  alarm  an  un- 
converted man.  It  is  himself.  The  state  of  his 
heart  towards  God. 

4.  We  see,  also,  by  the  same  light  the  insufficiency 
of  morality.  It  is  very  well  and  quite  necessary  ; 
but  every  thing  which  is  necessary  is  not  sufficient. 
It  does  not  answer  the  purpose  of  fitting  the  soul  for 
heaven.     That  is  done  only  by  holiness. 

5.  We  see  how  little  ground  of  complaint  there 
will  be  against  the  final  allotments  of  men,  since 
each  will  go  to  his  appropriate  place.  God  will 
banish  from  his  presence  only  those  who  never  really 
loved  his  presence.  Therein  is  comfort  for  some 
poor,  pious  soul.  Those  to  whom  he  will  say,  ''De- 
part from  me,"  always  said  to  him,  "Depart  from 
us."  They  fled  from  God,  and  now  they  are  driven 
from  him.  They  desired  to  be  without  him,  and 
now  they  are,  in  every  sense,  without  him.  Are 
they  happy  ?  What !  a  soul  happy  in  eternity  with- 
out God  ?     Don't  ask  such  a  question. 

6.  We  see  what  we  have  to  do.  It  is  to  cultivate 
spiritual-mindedness,  heavenliness  of  temper.  Have 
we  made  a  beginning  ?     Let  us  go  on.     But,  if  not, 


412  NEVINS'     SERMONS. 

begin  now.  Though  it  be  late  with  some  of  you  to 
begin  hfe's  work,  yet  it  is  not  too  late.  It  is  only  too 
late  to  defer  any  longer  ;  and  don't  be  discouraged. 
Read  Isaiah  \v.  Remember  the  oath  of  God,  (Eze- 
kiel  xxxiii. 11,)  where  you  see  God  is  ready.  He  will 
treat  with  you.  If  the  work  is  great,  yet  greater  is 
the  being  who  is  to  do  it.  Nothing  is  too  hard  for 
him.  If  great  is  thy  unworthiness,  Christ's  merit  is 
greater.  What  if  the  stain  is  deep,  his  blood  can 
take  it  out.  Fly  thee  to  his  pierced  heart ;  there  is 
healing.  Hide  thee  in  that  cleft  of  the  rock  of  ages. 
There  is  safety  there.  Be  that  thy  place,  and  then 
heaven  shall  surely  be. 


SERMON    XXX 


Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what  manner 
of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness. — 
2  Peter  iii.  11. 


Although  the  fate  of  one  immortal  inhabitant  of 
this  vast  world,  is  more  interesting  and  more  import- 
ant than  the  destiny  that  awaits  the  world  itself, 
which  has  been  the  birth  and  burial  place  of  so  many 
millions  of  such  beings,  yet  we  cannot  help  feeling 
some  deorree  of  interest  in  the  fate  that  is  reserved 
even  for  the  material  fabric.  It  is  not  strange  that 
we  should  feel  some  kind  of  attachment,  so  far  as 
attachment  can  be  felt  towards  objects  destitute  of 
life,  to  a  world  that  successively  affords  us  our  cra- 
dle, our  arena,  and  our  grave  ;  and  that  we  should 
take  a  melancholy  interest  in  the  future  history  of 
this  great  globe,  that  has  been  the  theatre  of  so  many 
mighty  transactions,  and  the  temporary  home  of  so 
many  illustrious  beings,  and  is  now  the  receptacle  of 
so  much  sacred  dust :  and  that  has  been  signalized 
above  all  other  worlds,  by  being  selected  to  receive 
the  visit  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  to  exhibit  the  won- 
ders  of  redemption.  It  is  natural  that,  when  we  look 
abroad  on  this  earth,  every  spot  of  which  is,  in  a 
sense,  consecrated  ground,  that  we  should  experience 

35* 


414 

a  higher  degree  of  the  same  emotions,  that  the  scholar 
feels  when  he  visits  classic  countries,  and  the  Chris- 
tian pilgrim  when  first  he  plants  his  foot  on  the  sa- 
cred soil  of  Palestine.  That  principle  of  association 
which  causes  their  blood  to  thrill,  and  their  bosoms 
to  throb  with  indescribable  feelings,  and  which  makes 
another  linger  with  a  melancholy  interest  on  the 
field  where  some  memorable  battle  was  fought  and 
some  renowned  victory  gained,  though  its  external 
appearance  be  like  any  other  plain,  makes  this  whole 
world  an  object  of  peculiar  interest  to  the  Christian  and 
the  man  ;  and  we  feel  something  more  than  a  mere 
idle  curiosity  to  know  what  changes  it  is  to  undergo, 
and  what  catastrophe  is  to  befall  this  first  home  of 
men,  after  it  shall  have  delivered  up,  at  the  command 
of  the  Son  of  God,  their  reorganized  bodies.  And  we 
are  not  left  in  uncertainty  as  to  its  fate.  He  that 
made  it  and  that  preserves  it,  has  in  the  plainest  lan- 
guage, and  by  various  writers,  informed  us  what  it  is 
reserved  unto.  No  one  of  all  who  spake  by  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Holy  Ghost,  has  spoken  more  ex- 
plicitly on  the  subject  than  Peter  in  the  chapter  be- 
fore us.  He  declares,  after  answering  some  antici- 
pated objections,  in  the  verse  preceding  the  text,  that 
*'  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the 
night,  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with 
a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fer- 
vent heat,  the  earth  also,  and  the  works  that  are 
therein  shall  be  burned  up."  And,  again,  in  much 
the  same  language,  in  the  verse  succeeding  our  selec- 
tion, "  Looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of 
the  day  of  God,  wherein  the  heavens  being  on  fire 


415 


shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with 
fervent  heat."  This  world,  then,  is  destined,  at  some 
future  period,  to  undergo  a  destruction  by  fire.  The 
infallible  word  of  God  makes  it  certain,  and  to  the 
humble  believer  this  is  suiRcient.  No  natural  im- 
probability, nay,  no  apparent  impossibility,  could 
have  any  weight  against  the  word  of  God  ;  for 
he  knows  that  God  is  never  at  a  loss  to  accom- 
plish whatever  he  designs.  "  Is  any  thing  too 
hard  for  the  Lord  ?"  or,  ''  Hath  he  said  and  shall  he 
not  do  it  ?"  But  though  the  divine  prediction  affords 
a  solid  foundation  for  our  faith  on  this  article,  and 
ought  to  hush  every  objection  ;  yet  it  is  not  improper 
on  subjects  of  this  kind,  to  call  in  the  aid  of  argu- 
ment from  other  quarters,  to  confirm  the  faith  of  the 
believing,  and  to  remove,  if  possible,  the  doubts  of 
the  sceptical.  This  very  thing  the  Apostle,  under 
inspiration,  does,  and  we  shall  but  imitate  him  and 
expound  his  language  in  attempting  it. 

That  there  are  those  who  doubt  or  deny  the  futu- 
rity of  this  destruction,  is  only  a  fulfillment  of  his 
prophetic  declaration.  "  Knowing  this  first,  that  there 
shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers,  walking  after  their 
own  lusts.  And  saying,  where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming  ?  For  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep  all  things 
continue  as  they  vjere  from  the  beginning  of  the 
creation."  Although  scoffers  at  religion,  are  not 
much  in  the  habit  of  reasoning,  yet  here  they  are 
represented  as  bringing  forward  an  argument,  in 
justification  of  their  unbelief,  which  with  them  seems 
to  have  been  all-powerful.  ''Where  is  the  promise 
of  his  coming?     How  improbable  such  an  event  is  ! 


416  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

What  is  there  in  the  aspect  of  things  that  looks  like  it? 
What  preparatory  step  has  been  taken  7  For  since 
the  fatiiers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  from 
the  bemnninjr  of  the  creation."  This  is  their  mode 
of  reasoning  ;  and,  it  must  be  confessed,  it  is  not 
altogether  destitute  of  plausibility.  Nevertheless,  it 
never  leads  to  absolute  certainty,  and,  in  opposition  to 
the  word  of  God,  is  worth  nothing.  It  is  a  reasoning 
from  the  analogy,  the  similitude  of  relations  in  the 
past  to  those  in  the  future,  than  which  none  makes 
a  stronger,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  more  undue  im- 
pression on  the  mind.  There  is  no  argument  that 
requires  to  be  used  with  greater  caution,  for  there  is 
none  that  has  led  mankind  into  more  errors  than  an 
inconsiderate  and  unauthorized  use  of  the  argument 
from  analogy.  And  the  reason  is  that  its  basis  is  the 
permanency  of  certain  laws,  and  the  continuance  of 
a  certain  state  of  things,  which  are  maintained  at  the 
good  pleasure  of  God,  and  upon  which  therefore 
men  can  build  no  accurate  calculations.  One  of  the 
most  common  applications  of  this  argument  is  that 
by  which  we  infer  that  the  sun  which  rose  to-day, 
will  rise  to-morrow  ;  but,  in  this  case,  the  argument 
does  not  produce  absolute  certainty.  The  sun's 
rising  to-day  carries  with  it  no  certain  promise,  that 
it  will  rise  to-morrow  ;  and  the  time  is  coming  when 
those  who  make  their  calculations,  and  build  their 
confidence  on  this  mode  of  reasoning,  will  be  wo- 
fully  disappointed  ;  for  the  star  of  the  morning  will 
herald  in  the  king  of  day  for  the  last  time,  the  sun 
will  rise  to  rise  no  more.  For  our  assurance  that 
to-morrow  will  be  as  this  day,  v.'e  are  more  indebted 


4ir 

to  the  Bible  than'to  any  thing  else.  The  promise  of 
God  to  Noah  pledges  his  veracity,  that  while  the 
earth  remaineth.  the  alternation  of  day  and  night, 
and  consequently  the  apparent  diurnal  revolution  of 
the  sun,  which  is  necessary  to  it,  shall  not  cease. 
And  that  the  earth  is  destined  to  remain  undisturbed 
for  centuries  yet  to  come,  prophecy,  if  it  be  rightly 
understood,  gives  the  highest  assurance  we  hav^e. 
Here  then  is  the  ground  of  our  assurance  that  the 
sun  will  rise  to-morrow,  that  the  event  is  altogether 
probable  for  the  other  reason  we  do  not  deny. 

If,  therefore,  all  things  were  as  they  had  been  from 
the  beginning  of  the  creation,  yet  that  involved  no 
certainty  that  they  would  continue  so  in  all  time  to 
come.  Such  a  conclusion  could  not  stand,  except  on 
the  supposition  of  the  eternity  of  the  world,  and  the 
self-existence  and  independence  of  the  solar  system. 
The  future  eternity  of  the  world  could  only  be  inferred 
from  its  past  eternity.  But  the  fict  was,  and  no  one 
could  be  involuntarily  ignorant  of  it,  that  the  hea- 
vens and  earth  had  been,  but  a  few  thousand  years 
before,  created  out  of  nothing  by  the  word  of  God 
and  by  the  same  word  were  upheld.  The  world  was 
dependant  for  its  beginning  and  its  continuance  on 
God,  and  he  could  at  any  time  he  should  please,  with 
the  same  facility  with  which  he  created,  destroy  it. 
There  was  no  such  thing  as  nature  independent  of 
God.  The  laws  of  nature,  on  the  immutability  of 
which  they  grounded  their  confidence,  were  but  the 
enactments  of  the  Divine  Being;  and  the  great  Law- 
giver could  at  any  time  modify  or  repeal  them  at  his 
p'easure;  and  all  those  celestial  revolutions  which 


418 


for  so  many  centuries  had  been  performed  with  a 
uniformity  that  seemed  to  them  inviolable,  could  at 
any  instant  be  arrested  by  the  same  power  that  at 
first  gav^e  them  that  regularity  of  motion.  The  fact 
of  the  recent  creation  of  the  world  was  therefore  de- 
structive of  their  argument.  If  no  longer  ago  than  a 
few  thousand  years,  a  few  days  of  God,  the  world 
was,  by  his  word,  called  into  being,  was  it  in  any  way 
improbable  that  the  power  of  the  same  efficient  word 
should  effect  a  change  or  a  dissolution  of  that  upon 
which  he  had  impressed  no  particular  mark,  and  con- 
cerning which  he  had  given  no  positive  assurance 
of  permanency  ?  Why  should  he  who  admits  the 
world  was  created,  think  it  a  thing  incredible  that 
God  should  destroy  it  ?  The  world  is  by  no  means 
old  enough,  to  have  made  the  experience  of  the  past, 
a  solid  foundation  for  an  inference  respecting  the  fu- 
ture. 

But  the  Apostle  denies  that  there  was  any  founda- 
tion for  this  kind  of  argument.  Their  conclusion 
was  not  good,  though  tlie  truth  of  their  premises 
should  be  admitted  ;  but  now  he  denies  the  truth  of 
their  premises.  All  things  had  not  continued  as  they 
were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation.  The  estab- 
lished order  of  nature  had  been  interrupted.  The 
world  had  been  already  once  destro^^ed ;  where  then 
was  the  improbability  of  its  being  destroyed  again  7 
One  element  had  been  let  loose  upon  it  in  time  past, 
by  which,  though  none  of  its  atoms  had  been  anni- 
hilated, yet  its  whole  form  and  structure  had  been 
altered,  how  was  it  incredible  that  another  and  a 
more  potent  element  might  in  time  to  come  be  per- 


419 

mitted  to  exert  its  force  and  fury  upon  it.  If  it  had 
been  once  destroyed  by  water,  what  was  to  hinder  its 
being  again  destroyed  by  fire  ?  The  deluge  was  not 
a  more  probable  event  before  it  was  accomplished, 
than  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  fire  is  now. 
The  antediluvians  could  have  held  as  hard  an  aro^u- 
ment  with  Noah  when  he  predicted  the  flood  of  wa- 
ter, as  any  postdiluvian  can  with  Peter,  when  he 
foretells  the  certainty  of  a  flood  of  fire.  All  the  objec- 
tions that  stand  againsl  this  last,  stood  against  the 
former  and  indeed  more,  for  then  there  had  been  no 
example  of  destruction  like  that  which  is  now  the 
matter  of  authentic  history  with  us.  The  apparent 
impossibility  of  the  thing  in  the  one  case,  was  as  great 
and  as  embarrassing  as  it  is  in  the  other.  There  is 
in  the  atmospheric  heavens  and  in  the  earth  as  wide 
a  diffusion  and  as  large  an  aggregate  of  the  element 
of  fire,  as  of  that  of  water.  There  are  within  the  com- 
pass of  our  investigations  as  many  preparatory  steps 
taken  for  the  burning  of  the  world,  as  there  were  in 
the  view  of  the  antediluvians  for  the  drowning  of  it. 
And  indeed  there  is  a  striking  resemblance  in  the 
disposition  of  the  destroying  agents.  The  Almighty 
prepared  for  the  one  event  by  putting  waters  within, 
and  above  and  around  the  earth,  so  that  when  the 
time  appointed  came,  it  was  but  to  break  up  the 
fountains  of  the  deep,  and  to  open  the  windows  of 
heaven,  and  the  streams  met  and  mingled,  and  ex- 
panded into  the  wide  waste  of  waters.  And  so  in 
like  manner  with  the  element  that  is  destined  to  de- 
stroy it,  it  is  all  above  and  around  and  beneath  us  ; 
burning  under  our  feet  and  flashing  over  our  heads, 


420 

and  existing  in  its  latency  in  every  stone  and  shrub 
and  sand,  and  pervading  every  drop  of  water  and 
every  particle  of  air.  Tliere  are  furnaces  within 
the  earth,  as  the  phenomena  of  volcanoes  testify,  an- 
swering- to  the  fountains  within  it,  and  above  us  there 
is  the  same  minute  division  and  general  diffusion  of 
the  element,  as  of  the  other.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  water  the  great  antagonist  of  fire,  is  found  to  be 
itself  composed  of  two  aerial  substances,  the  one  the 
most  inflammable  of  all  known  substances,  and  the 
other  the  grand  principle  and  essential  support  of 
combustion,  so  that  the  decomposition  of  water  alone 
might  produce  all  that  the  Apostle  predicts.  The 
progress  of  chemical  investigation  has  also  brought 
to  light  the  fact,  that  almost  every  natural  substance 
has  its  base  or  chief  ingredient  inflammable,  so  that 
in  short  the  consuming  agent,  and  the  combustible 
matter  are  both  so  universally  dijffused  and  so  abun- 
dant that  it  requires  but  the  bringing"  of  them  into 
immediate  contact,  by  some  powerful  electrical  dis- 
charge or  the  application  of  some  secret  match,  to 
produce  all  that  the  Apostle  Peter  must  be  necessa- 
rily understood  to  mean  by  the  heavens  being^  on 
fire  and  the  elements  melting  with  fervent  heat,  and 
the  earth  being  burned  up. 

Let  me  now  make  a  remark  or  two  on  the  na- 
ture of  the  destruction  that  awaits  the  world,  before 
I  engage  in  the  more  practical  part  of  the  subject. 
It  is  not  annihilation  of  the  world  that  is  here  pre- 
dicted, but  an  alteration  of  its  form  and  contexture, 
a  disorganization  of  its  parts,  and  perhaps  a  decompo- 
sition of  man^r  of  its  substances  ;  such  a  change  in 


NEVINS'  SERMONS.  421 

fact  as  will  necessarily  result  from  its  being  subjected 
to  the  action  of  an  intense  fire.  Whether  the  world 
will  ever  be  annihilated  is  a  question  on  which  we 
are  left  in  perfect  ignorance.  If  it  is  ever  to  be  done, 
it  is  manifest  that  it  will  not  be  effected  by  any  ma- 
terial agency,  but  the  same  omnipotent  word  that 
created,  will  uncreate,  and  even  the  destroying  ele- 
ments themselves  will  have  no  more  existence.  The 
destruction  foretold  by  the  Apostle,  is  such  a  destruc- 
tion as  fire  is  capable  of  effecting.  The  nature  of 
the  effect  will  answer  to  the  potency  of  the  cause  ; 
and  we  know  that  however  energetic  its  action  is 
and  however  essentially  it  may  alter  the  form,  and 
change  the  constitution  of  things,  there  is  never  the 
loss  of  a  single  particle  of  matter  from  any  substance 
on  which  its  energy  is  exerted.  Besides,  it  is  reason- 
able to  conclude  that  Peter  intends  the  same  kmd  of 
destruction,  both  when  he  speaks  of  the  world  as 
having  been  destroyed  by  water,  and  when  he  speaks 
of  it  as  to  be  destroyed  by  fire  ;  and  as  in  the  one  case 
we  know  it  was  a  destruction  without  annihilation, 
it  is  fair  to  infer  that  so  it  will  be  in  the  other  case  ; 
as  the  world  lost  nothing  by  its  submersion,  neither 
will  it  lose  an  atom  of  its  substance  by  the  genera! 
conflagration  in  which  it  will  be  wrapped.  The 
heavens  shall  indeed  pass  away  with  a  great  noise, 
and  the  earth  and  all  therein  shall  be  burned  up,  but 
out  of  them  shall  come  purified  and  refined,  a  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righte- 
ousness. 

"  Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolv- 
ed, what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  ?     The 
36 


422 

subject  my  hearers  is  a  practical  one  ;  the  Apostle 
gives  It  a  practical  turn  ;  he  makes  it  the  foundation 
of  a  solemn  appeal  to  his  readers,  and  urges  it  as  one 
grand  consideration,  why  they  should  cultivate  that 
holiness  and  exemplify  that  godliness,  which  it  was 
the  end  of  his  preaching  and  writing,  and  the  labor 
of  his  life  to  promote.  And  we  have  not  been  pur- 
suing the  foregoing  speculation,  if  it  must  be  so 
called,  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  preparing 
your  minds  for  the  question  which  the  Apostle  educes 
out  of  it,  ''  what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  ?" 
Some  suppose  that  the  question  ends  here,  and  that 
what  follows  should  be  read  in  connection  with  the 
succeeding  verse,  as  the  answer  to  the  question,  "in 
all  holy  conversation  and  godliness,  looking  for." 
But  the  criticism  is  of  little  importance,  the  mean- 
ing is  substantially  the  same,  however  we  read  it. 
The  Apostle's  language  implies  that  the  certainty 
of  this  awful  catastrophe  which  is  to  befall  the 
world,  ought  in  his  opinion  to  exert  a  powerful  moral 
influence  over  all  who  expected  it.  It  was  not  a 
subject  to  invite  speculation  merely,  or  to  exercise 
curiosity,  but  a  subject  that  should  deeply  affect  the 
heart,  and  exert  a  controlling  power  over  their  con- 
duct. It  was  manifestly  unfit  and  indeed  it  argued 
infatuation  for  them  to  live  in  the  expectation  of  such 
an  event,  as  they  would  live,  were  there  no  ground 
for  expecting  it.  There  was  a  certain  mode  of  life, 
a  certain  deportment  and  behaviour  which  seemed  to 
him  to  be  peculiarly  suitable  to  being  placed  in  such 
circumstances  ;  but  before  he  tells  them  what  it  was, 
he  appeals  to  their  own  judgment  and  feeling  on  the 


423 

subject,  "  what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  ?" 
Seeing  that  this  world,  which  you  now  inhabit  and 
from  the  things  of  which  you  derive  so  large  a  por- 
tion of  your  enjoyments,  this  world  which  many  of 
you  so  idolatrously  love,  is  with  all  that  it  contains 
to  be  burned  up,  and  you  know  not  how  soon,  and 
how  suddenly,  and  you  are  to  be  spectators  and  not 
uninterested  spectators  of  the  awful  conflagration, 
what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  7  How  ab- 
surd in  this  view  is  the  love  of  pleasure,  the  avarice 
of  wealth,  the  ambition  of  worldly  power  and  glory 
to  be  cherished  in  an  immortal  breast ;  how  unsuit- 
able is  levity  and  trifling,  and  gaiety  to  such  scenes 
as  are  before  us  !  Ought  you  not  at  least  to  be  think- 
ing something  about  another  home,  when  the  flames 
shall  dislodge  you  from  this  ;  and  where  you  shall 
stand,  and  how  you  will  fare  on  that  day,  when  all 
these  predictions  shall  be  accomplished?  What 
sort  of  life  do  you  imagine  will  best  bear  the  revela- 
tions and  trials  of  that  day  ?  What  sort  of  persons 
do  you  suppose  will  be  least  appalled  by  the  fearful 
spectacle  of  a  world  on  fire  ?  Who  are  they  that 
will  wish  they  had  lived  a  different  life  from  what 
they  did?  These  questions  answer  themselves. 
But  the  force  of  this  consideration  is  very  much  im- 
paired, if  not  entirely  destroyed  in  many  minds  by 
the  reflection  that  long  before  this  catastrophe  of  the 
world,  death  will  have  forever  separated  them  from 
all  connection  with  it,  and  other  scenes  and  other 
society  will  have  weaned  them  from  all  attachment 
to  it.  "  Death,  say  they,  is  a  far  more  decisive  and 
dreadful  event  to  us,  than  the  destructions  of  the  last 


424  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

day.  It  is  our  last  day  ;  draw  your  motives  the  rath- 
er from  this ;  long  ere  the  last  sun  rises  on  this  de- 
voted earth,  shall  we  have  been  inhabitants  of  eterni- 
ty, and  all  uncertainty  as  to  what  our  condition  is  to 
be  will  have  been  removed,  we  shall  have  been  before 
God,  we  shall  have  bloomed  beneath  his  smile  or 
withered  under  his  frown  ;  we  shall  have  felt  the  be- 
ginnings of  heaven  or  of  hell ;  we  shall  have  been 
spectators  of  scenes  more  awfully  sublime,  than  that 
of  the  last  day  will  be  ;  tell  us  not  of  the  trump  of 
God  then  to  sound,  it  will  not  alarm  such  as  we  shall 
be;  tell  us  not  of  a  dissolving  world,  what  concern 
shall  we  have  in  it  then  ;  the  fire  will  not  be  kindled 
upon  it,  until  it  has  given  us  up  our  bodies."  It  is 
thus  that  the  power  of  this  tremendous  consideration, 
which  the  Apostles  employed  with  so  much  frequency 
and  eifect,  (far  more  frequently,  and  apparently  with 
greater  success  than  they  did  the  consideration  derived 
from  the  death  of  the  body,)  is  well  nigh,  if  not  quite 
lost  upon  the  minds  of  men.  Is  this  as  it  should  be? 
May  there  not  be  some  defect  in  that  process  of  rea- 
soning, by  which  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  dying  day  of  the  world  is  so  far  distant?  I  con- 
fess there  is  a  high  degree  of  probability  that  we 
shall  all  have  descended  into  the  grave  long  before 
the  archangel  shall  announce  the  morning  of  the 
final  day  ;  but  it  is  not,  in  my  opinion,  absolutely 
certain.  It  cannot  be  certain,  unless  we  can  be 
sure  that  we  interpret  prophecy  aright.  We  think 
that  we  find  many  predictions  in  the  word  of  God, 
that  have  never  yet  been  fulfilled  ;  but  more  may 
have  been  fulfilled  than  we  suppose,  and  G»od  may 


425 

have  some  good  reasons  for  permitting  us  to  mislead 
ourselves  in  our  interpretations.  It  is  certain  that 
the  grand  apostacy  from  pure  and  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, which  Paul  says  to  the  Thessalonians  will 
precede  the  second  coming,  has  taken  place  centu- 
ries ago.  The  man  of  sin  and  son  of  perdition  has 
been  revealed  already.  How  do  we  know  then  that 
we  shall  not  be  aUve  at  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man?  That  his  advent  is  not  at  all  expected  by 
the  present  generation,  does  not  destroy  the  possi- 
bility; for  the  day  of  the  Lord  shall  come  unex- 
pected, as  a  thief  in  the  night.  When  they  shall  say, 
peace  and  safety,  as  mankind  are  now  saying,  then 
sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them.  As  it  was 
in  the  days  of  Noah  and  Lot,  so  shall  it  be  when  the 
Son  of  man  is  revealed.  As  when  the  one  entered 
the  ark,  and  the  other  went  out  of  Sodom,  so  when 
the  Son  of  man  shall  be  revealed,  the  morning  shall 
dawn  in  undiminished  beauty,  portending  nothing, 
and  the  sun  shall  rise  in  its  usual  glory,  and  the  lark 
shall  sing  as  merrily  as  ever,  and  there  shall  be  eating 
and  drinking,  buying  and  selling,  planting  and  build- 
ing and  no  presentiment  of  evil  in  any  mind,  until  sud- 
denly the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  shall  become  visible 
in  the  heavens.  "  Of  that  day  knoweth  no  man."  You 
will  not  understand  me  as  arguing  against  the  prob- 
ability ofj  the  received  opinion  on  this  subject,  but 
only  against  its  absolute  certainty.  I  believe,  though 
I  do  not  think  myself  justified  in  saying  I  am  per- 
fectly certain,  that  we  all  shall  die,  as  have  our  fa- 
thers before  us,  long  ere  the  predictions  of  this  chap- 
ter will  be  fulfilled  :  but,  I  believe,  notwithstanding 


426  NEVINS'  SERMONS. 

this,  that  there  is  every  thing  in  the  anticipation  of 
the  events  here  foretold,  to  fill  the  mind  of  the  man 
that  is  most  distant  from  them  with  the  deepest  so- 
lemnity and  awe ;  and  that  it  is  a  false  and  delusive 
train  of  reasoning,  by  which  we  endeavor  to  persuade 
ourselves  that  all  the  terror  that  is  before  us,  is  in 
death  and  in  the  immediate  consequences  of  death  ; 
and  that  there  will  be  nothing  so  very  alarming  in 
the  exhibitions  and  events  of  the  last  day.  Powerful 
as  is  the  appeal  that  death  makes  to  our  fears,  that  of 
the  day  of  judgment  ought  to  be  felt  to  be  far  more 
powerful.  Nothing  that  can  befall  us  in  the  interval, 
will  at  all  prepare  us  for  the  tremendous  display  that 
will  then  be  made.  Even  the  devils  tremble  in  ex- 
pectation of  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,  and  they 
deprecate  its  coming  because  they  know  it  will  bring 
with  it  an  accession  of  terror  and  suifering.  "Art 
thou  come  to  torment  us  before  the  time  ?"  said  some 
of  them  to  our  Saviour  in  the  days  of  his  flesh.  You 
may  tremble  in  view  of  death  as  much  as  you  please, 
but  this  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  tremble 
still  more  in  the  prospect  of  that  which  is  beyond  it. 
It  is  true  that  the  conflagration  of  the  material 
world  cannot  much  affect  the  happiness  of  an  im- 
mortal spirit.  But  Peter  knew,  and  those  with 
whom  he  reasoned  knew,  that  that  was  not  the  only 
event  by  which  that  day  is  to  be  distinguished  ;  he 
speaks  in  this  very  chapter  of  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  man  as  coincident  with  it.  It  was  this  glorious 
second  advent  that  the  scofiers  are  represented  as  de- 
nying when  they  say,  "  Where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming  ?"  to  which  the  Apostle  replies  by  proving 


NEVINS'   SERMONS.  427 

the  dissolution  of  the  world;  so  inseparably  connected 
were  the  two  events.  Now  this  was  a  consideration 
that  appealed  to  men  of  every  character ;  to  the 
godly  and  ungodly  ;  and  he  converts  it  into  a  motive 
when  he  would  exhort  the  former  to  Christian  dili- 
gence; •'  Wherefore  beloved,  seeing  that  ye  look  for 
such  things,  be  diligent  that  ye  may  be  found  of  him 
in  peace  without  spot,  and  blameless."  What  man- 
ner of  persons  ought  ye  to  be,  who  are  expecting  by 
the  sight  of  this  great  conflagration,  to  behold  the 
Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  com- 
ing to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired 
of  all  them  that  believe  ?  Is  not  this  an  unanswerable 
reason  why  you  should  diligently  cultivate  holiness? 
Does  it,  in  your  estimation,  add  no  interest  to  the 
final  day,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  then  be 
revealed  in  flaming  fire  ?  What  human  heart  can 
be  indiflerent  to  it  ? 

But  the  Apostle  informs  us,  in  another  verse,  tliat 
the  same  will  be  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition 
of  ungodly  men.  The  sufferings  which  they  shall 
have  endured  before  that  will  not  merit  the  name  of 
perdition,  when  compared  with  what  shall  follow 
that  day.  There  and  in  the  light  of  that  conflagra- 
tion the  great  white  throne  will  be  erected,  and  the 
books  shall  be  opened,  and  the  dead,  small  and  great, 
shall  stand  before  God  to  be  judged  out  of  them. 
Will  there  be  nothing  appalling  in  that  preparation 
and  that  arraignment.  Wilt  thou  not  tremble,  sin- 
ner, when  thy  own  case  comes  on,  and  the  scru- 
tinizing eye  of  the  judge  falls  upon  thee,  when  thy 


428  NEVINS'    SERMONS. 

life  is  scanned  and  thy  heart  is  laid  open?  and 
should  not  the  anticipation  now  affect  you  ?  "  What 
manner  of  man  ought  you  to  be  ?" 

A  holy  conversation  and  a  life  of  godliness  will 
alone  prepare  you  for  the  tremendous  events  of  the 
last  great  day. 

We  must  have  our  robes  washed,  and  made  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and,  as  the  evidence  of 
it,  personal  holiness,  else  that  day  will  fill  us  with 
surprise,  despair,  and  anguish  insupportable,  incon- 
ceivable, and  eternal. 


THE    END. 


DATE  DUE 

^^m^m 

^^d^Q/lj- 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

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